The New Yorker Joe Bradley (born 1975) is known for his diverse works, which are located between figuration and abstraction. The show at the Kunsthalle Krems comprises around 70 works from Bradley's most recent oeuvre, including paintings, drawings and sculptures. It is the US American's first museum exhibition in Austria.
For more than twenty years, Joe Bradley has been working on a multi-layered oeuvre that is characterized by graphic-comic-like figuration, minimalism and Colorfield elements. Many of the works also exhibit ironic traits that are often found in post-conceptual art. His works constantly alternate between abstract and figurative elements and refer to the Western painting tradition, ranging from Henri Matisse to Willem de Kooning. Bradley's most recent paintings are characterized by painterly density in an impressive blaze of colour, with graphic accents.
Joe Bradley, Xavier Hufkens, David Zwirner and Eva Presenhuber © Courtesy the artist, Photo: Maris Hutchinson
From irony to gestural abstraction
Bradley's early works in the late 1990s were inspired by Nordic romantic landscape painting. He later turned to monochrome painting, with his "Modular Paintings" reminiscent of the minimalist works of Frank Stella and Ellsworth Kelly. From 2010 onwards, he created large-scale, gestural and informal paintings that show a mixture of abstraction and figuration. His works are a continuous exploration of the processuality and materiality of painting.
Joe Bradley's work has been exhibited in numerous international museums, including the MoMA and the Whitney Museum in New York. His works can be found in important collections such as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in New York State and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. The Krems exhibition focuses on large-format, colorful paintings from Bradley's most recent work. The show is complemented by reduced drawings and readymade sculptures, which illustrate the multifaceted work of this important contemporary artist.
November 22, 2025 to April 6, 2026
