At first glance, Sebastian Weissenbacher’s (b. 1959, Eggenburg/A) paintings might confuse viewers: his compositions centre around remarkably banal, kitschy objects, wrapped in flashy colours and tight, homogeneous surfaces. Still, Weissenbacher’s work is far from being trivial as his powerful sarcasm and hidden humour shine through in his art. Underneath the polished pink surface, his ideas explore contemporary issues, existential concerns, politics and religion. As art historian Lóránd Hegyi phrased it, Weissenbacher is a quiet, clever and sharp-eyed observer who deliberately puts on the mask of a clown.