Johann Korec created an impressively extensive oeuvre and is among Art Brut’s leading representatives. An erotic character already pervades in his early works of the sixties and seventies, and this theme would accompany him throughout his entire career as an artist. Along with pairs of lovers and erotic scenes, the artist was particularly interested in the circus, because he had always dreamed of becoming an animal tamer or keeper. His depictions of soldiers, tanks and armaments, on the other hand, point to his memories from the period of the Second World War.

Initially, Korec tore pictures that interested him out of magazines and traced them. While, in the beginning, he based each work on only a single source image, he soon began combining multiple newspaper clippings to form his pieces. The contours traced in writing ink, drawing ink or ballpoint pen were then filled in with generous amounts of watercolor or gouache. In the eighties, Korec began to draw freehand, although he preserved his pithy contours. The extensive text passages with which he always supplemented his drawings establish the link between all his work periods. They explain or elaborate upon the depiction’s content and offer viewers a glimpse into his thoughts, hopes, and dreams.