“phila“-Toscana 2025, Simon Lehner – How far is a lightyear?, 2005-2019, Steyr 380a & weeping milk cap

Simon Lehner – How far is a lightyear?, 2005–2019

Cross-media art

Simon Lehner creates hybrid works of art that address themes such as identity, memory and concepts of masculinity.

Born in 1996, Simon Lehner studied Photography and Time-Based Media at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. His artistic practice begins with photography but expands into painting and image processing techniques, moving beyond conventional boundaries. Through multi-layered processes, new compositions are generated from existing images taken from private or public photo archives. The result is three-dimensional photographic objects and installations, digitally reworked and enriched with painterly elements. His works have already been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions as well as magazines in Austria and across Europe. Awards such as FOAM Talent 2021, the Ö1 Talent Grant 2020 and others attest to his international recognition.

In his cycle How far is a lightyear?, created between 2005 and 2019, Simon Lehner explores masculinity, trauma and the development of identity concepts within the family. Childhood photographs are digitally reworked and recomposed into new scenarios and compositions. The title is taken from a question the artist once asked his father as a child. For this series, he was awarded the Paris Photo Carte Blanche Award and the Paris Photo Maison Ruinart Prize in 2018.

Steyr 380a

Legendary postbus

At a time when, in the post-war years, owning a private car was still beyond the means of many, the Steyr 380a Postbus, produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, was indispensable in passenger transport.

In 1934, Steyr-Werke and Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke merged to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG. After the end of the Second World War, the demand for commercial vehicles was high, but passenger car production had been discontinued. Manufacturing in Steyr focused instead on lorries, buses and tractors.

Produced between 1948 and 1953, the Steyr 380 was the first diesel lorry designed as a modular system, allowing for versatile models ranging from flatbed trucks and buses to tractors and vans. Austrian Post deployed the Steyr 380a variant in large numbers as scheduled postbuses until the 1960s.

The robust, low-maintenance Steyr WD 413 water-cooled four-cylinder, four-stroke naturally aspirated diesel engine was mounted lengthwise beneath the distinctive front bonnet. With an output of 85 horsepower, it reached a top speed of 73.1 km/h. The Steyr 380a was also ideally suited for mountain roads and poor road conditions. With a permissible total weight of 7.25 tonnes, an overall length of 7.6 metres and a width of 2.2 metres, the postbus comfortably seated 25 passengers plus the driver. The absence of a luggage compartment was compensated by a large roof rack, accessible via a rear ladder. This year’s motif in the “Historic postal vehicles” series depicts a 1953 Steyr 380a postbus.

Weeping milk cap

A rare mushroom 

A rather little-known mushroom is the subject of this year’s “Austrian mushrooms” stamp series: the weeping milk cap, so called because of the white liquid that seeps out when it is cut.

The weeping milk cap (Lactifluus volemus), a member of the Russulaceae family, can be found from July to October in upland regions beneath pines, spruces, beeches and oaks. Its cap, often depressed in the centre and in some cases growing up to twenty centimetres across, ranges from reddish-brown to yellowish-brown or caramel-coloured with a fine, velvety surface. The stem grows to about ten centimetres and is somewhat lighter in colour than the cap. Young specimens have a convex cap. The dense, pale yellow gills are attached to the stem and turn reddish-brown when pressed. The flesh is white and firm. When damaged, either in the gills or the flesh, it exudes copious amounts of mild-tasting white “milk”, which turns brownish when exposed to air. Its distinctive herring-like odour makes the weeping milk cap unmistakable.

The weeping milk cap is an excellent edible mushroom. Young specimens can even be eaten raw, although this carries the risk of infection with fox tapeworm. The mushroom develops its full flavour only when fried. To preserve its tasty latex, it should not be cut into pieces. When boiled or steamed, it becomes slimy, which is why it is typically only sautéed at high heat. However, gathering weeping milk caps is generally discouraged, as the species has become increasingly rare.

When? 

29 August 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Presentation at 10:00 a.m.

Where? Gmunden Congress Centre, Toscanapark 6, 4810 Gmunden

Group photos: Photo 1

Photo of presentation: © Österreichische Post AG

Group photo (left to right):

Thomas Bergthaler (city councilor), Helmut KOGLER (President, Federation of Austrian Philately Associations), Rudolf SPIELER (event director, “phila“-Toscana) Christoph LEITL (Honorary President, Chamber of Commerce), Harald KUNCZIER (Austrian Post, Head of Branch Network)