František Lesák. Vermutung und Wirklichkeit – ein Selbstversuch is an artist’s book published by the Vienna Secession in 2021 in connection with Lesák’s exhibition of the same name.

The publication brings together different bodies of work that revolve around a central concern in the artist’s practice: the relationship between perception, objecthood, and the parts of things that remain hidden from view.

Lesák’s work is rooted in drawing, sculpture, measurement, mapping, and the systematic observation of objects and spatial situations. In Vermutung und Wirklichkeit, he investigates the multiplicity of perspectives and the limits of visual perception. The book focuses on what can be seen, what can only be inferred, and how drawing becomes a method for testing the relation between assumption and reality.

The publication includes around 100 illustrations and texts by the artist in German and English. Its format and construction, with Swiss binding, thread stitching, and a three-part leporello cover, underline its character as an artist’s book rather than a conventional exhibition catalogue.