(Vienna, 24 September 2026) Vienna-based artist Nives Widauer works across a range of media, including painting, drawing, video, installation and stage design. At the heart of her artistic practice lie questions concerning the interplay between the body, nature and culturally shaped visual representations. For the exhibition *Body Talk*, Widauer brings her series *Body Talk | Paracelsus*, as well as other works on the themes of anatomy and the body, into dialogue with selected objects from the Josephinum’s collection.
From 7 October 2026, the Josephinum, the collections of the Medical University of Vienna, will present the exhibition *Body Talk*, which was developed specifically for the venue in collaboration with the Paris-based critic J. Emil Sennewald. In addition, the artist has created interventions within the permanent exhibition and the historic wax model rooms. Her works enter into a direct interplay with the medical objects and historical depictions of the body in the collection, enriching them with contemporary perspectives.
The exhibition focuses on the human body as a complex and interconnected structure in which physical, psychological and cultural dimensions overlap. Paracelsus’s concept of ‘Ein-Bildung’ (formation) as a creative power of the soul and his ideas about humanity, nature and the cosmos form the historical point of reference. “Nives Widauer embarks on a unique journey by using anatomical drawings from an anatomy atlas dating from 1860 and infusing the plates with her visions, ideas and emotions. In this way, she transforms and develops the anatomical etchings, imbuing them with a new, colourful significance,” says Christiane Druml, Director of the Josephinum.
In this way, Nives Widauer’s contemporary works, linked to the history of medicine and science, offer a highly topical perspective on changing notions of the body and health. ‘Body Talk’ invites visitors to reconsider familiar images of the body and to recognise that their own understanding of the body is constructed from historically and culturally shaped notions.
Artist’s biography
Nives Widauer was born in Basel, Switzerland, and now lives and works in Vienna. She studied at the Academy of Art and Design in Basel, graduating from the Audiovisual Design department. After completing her studies, Widauer began to engage intensively with video art and multimedia projects. Since the late 1980s, she has also been working in the fields of theatre and opera, where her work has included the development of video projections and stage designs.
In her artworks, Widauer combines different media and is particularly interested in the interplay between the analogue and the digital, as well as between the past and the present. She also uses found objects, historical materials, photographs and texts, placing them in new contexts.
Nives Widauer’s works have been exhibited at venues including the German Hygiene Museum, Dresden (2026), the Lentos Art Museum, Linz (2025), the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (2023), the Kunstmuseum Basel (2022), the Kunsthaus Zürich (2022), the Austrian Cultural Forum, Washington (2020), the Jewish Museum Vienna (2020), the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2019), the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris (2019), the Belvedere Museum Vienna (2016/2018) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (2015).
To accompany the exhibition, the publication *Body Talk* is being published by Verlag für moderne Kunst, Vienna.
Special exhibition: Nives Widauer – Body Talk
Exhibition dates: 7 October 2026 – 21 March 2027
Curator: J. Emil Sennewald
Venue: Josephinum – Vienna Museum of the History of Medicine
Währinger Straße 25, 1090 Vienna; www.josephinum.ac.at
Opening hours: Wed–Sun, 10.00–18.00, Thu, 10.00–20.00
Scheduled guided tours: Sat, 11.00 and Sun, 15.00