INNSBRUCK.- Matthias Noggler has been named the winner of the 2026 RLB Art Prize, one of Tyrol’s established awards for emerging and mid-career contemporary artists. The two recognition prizes went to Vik Bayer and Simona Obholzer.
Presented by Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol, the biennial prize has supported artists connected to Tyrol since 2004. This year’s edition also marks a significant expansion of the program: the main award has increased from €10,000 to €15,000, while each recognition prize has risen from €4,000 to €6,000. The age limit for applicants was also raised from 40 to 45.
A total of 95 artists applied for the 2026 edition. Eligible artists had to have been born in Tyrol or maintain their primary residence there.
Noggler, who was born in Innsbruck in 1990 and now lives in Berlin, was selected for a painting practice that moves freely across a wide range of art-historical references.
His work draws on European modernism while weaving together elements of surrealism, expressive abstraction, Socialist Realism and Pop Art. Renaissance compositions, architectural fantasies, mural painting and the visual language of comics can all surface within the same body of work.
The jury highlighted Noggler’s ability to keep those references visible without allowing them to become nostalgic or derivative. Earlier works have examined social conflict and group dynamics, while more recent paintings turn toward urban environments and the imagery of popular culture, exploring questions of alienation, individuality and social organization within contemporary consumer society.
Along with the €15,000 prize, Noggler will receive a solo exhibition organized in cooperation with the Tyrolean State Museums. Because the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum is undergoing major renovation work, the exhibition is currently planned for fall 2029.
Vik Bayer looks at ecology through research and collaboration
Vik Bayer, born in Kufstein in 1992 and based in Vienna, received one of the two recognition awards for a research-driven practice focused on environmental and social systems.
Bayer’s two-channel video Slo-mo visions of refusal of unfulfilled promises was developed in close collaboration with farmers, researchers, activists and local communities. Another work, Holzauge, examines the Franconian Forest and the long-term consequences of monocultural reforestation, which has made the region particularly vulnerable to climate change and bark beetle infestation.
The jury praised Bayer’s ability to connect ecological questions with alternative economic and social models, including solidarity-based economies and community forms of production. Sustainability, resource use and relationships extending beyond the human world are recurring concerns throughout the practice.
Simona Obholzer examines the artificial landscapes of everyday life
The second recognition prize went to Simona Obholzer, born in Neustift im Stubaital in 1982 and also based in Vienna.
Obholzer’s work looks at the ways nature is designed, controlled and transformed for leisure and recreation. Lawns, recreational areas and virtual landscapes appear not simply as neutral settings, but as carefully constructed surfaces shaped by ecological, political and economic forces.
Her films and serial graphic works are often presented within theatrical, stage-like installations that challenge the viewer’s sense of space and position. Questions surrounding soil sealing, standardization and physical experience in an increasingly digital culture are central to her practice.
The jury singled out the conceptual clarity and formal precision of her multimedia work.
The 2026 jury consisted of Rosanna Dematt of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum; Sandro Droschl, director of HALLE FR KUNST Steiermark; Sophie Haslinger, curator at KunstHausWien; Silvia Hller, director of Kunstbrcke; and Thomas D. Trummer, director of Kunsthaus Bregenz.
Exhibition brings the three winners together
Works by Noggler, Bayer and Obholzer are currently presented in the exhibition “RLB Art Prize 2026” at Kunstbrcke in RAIQA, Innsbruck.
The show runs through September 19, 2026, with an accompanying program that includes guided tours, a workshop with Obholzer and an artist talk bringing together all three prize recipients on September 9. Admission is free.
The renewed prize program follows the relaunch of Kunstbrcke in 2026 and reflects a broader effort to give greater financial and institutional support to artists with ties to Tyrol.
