PEZ Arts: Creative case for the cult candies
Special edition of the world-renowned PEZ candies from Austria
What tastes sweet and refreshing and is also a real treat for the eyes? We’re talking about PEZ candies, which enjoy cult status around the world amongst children from every age group. This spring, the manufacturer PEZ International, based in Traun near Linz, is releasing a special edition of the classic PEZ dispenser. The Vienna-based artist JF Krichbaum created a small piece of art under the motto “PEZ Arts”. PEZ collectors and connoisseurs are gathering for its world première on Wednesday, 27th May 2026, from 6 pm under the motto “Coole Erwachsene machen kindische Sachen” (Cool adults make childish things) at the café in Dschungel Wien, the theatre for a young audience in the MuseumsQuartier.
PEZ has a long tradition in combining art and pop culture. The Linz-based company established its first cooperation with Disney as far back as 1953. This aroused the curiosity of the global collector community, who saw that the candy dispensers are much more than an object for storing and serving PEZ candies.
PEZ placed great emphasis on exclusivity when it came to the latest work from JF Krichbaum. A total of just 5000 pieces of the mini confectionery sculpture (title: “Kid Guard”) will be produced. These collectors’ items will be packaged in an artistic box at the factory. JF Krichbaum will be in attendance at this event, at which several of his pictures will also be exhibited.
The works from the artist JF Krichbaum, who is behind the first PEZ Arts dispensers, are amongst the collections of international collectors and renowned museums such as the Albertina in Vienna. With the “Kid Guard” figures, he continues on an earlier series.
In 2025, he showcased the child-like guards at an exhibition at the Museum Angerlehner in Upper Austria. The renowned author Franzobel, who was the curator of the exhibition, wrote: “In the Kid Guard series, the world is shown through the eyes of a child – positive, amazed, natural, without being naive. Eyes are often like little starry skies. Krichbaum has to be Finnish, the happiest people in the world according to surveys, or Bhutanese, who have a Ministry of Happiness. He creates a combination of shine and patina, future and past, childishness and intellectual reflection like I’ve never seen before.” Franzobel will be at Dschungel Wien and give a live presentation with the title “Franzobel liest Kindisches” (Franzobel reads childish things).
The PEZ Group is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the classic candies in 2027. PEZ is now one of the top 100 confectionery companies globally and active in more than 80 countries. Besides Europe and the USA, Japan and Australia are PEZ’s most important markets. Around 75 million dispensers and more than 5 billion PEZ candies are sold each and every year.
These kinds of figures were simply pie in the sky when the then head of the company Eduard Haas III invented his rectangular peppermint candies in 1927. The candies impressed in sleek metal boxes with the inscription “peppermint” and were soon a real hit thanks to their great flavour. The product name “PEZ” which is used to this day was distilled from the word peppermint.
Haas first launched a PEZ dispenser onto the market in 1949. With comic heads, fruity flavours and a constant stream of new figures, PEZ transformed from a peppermint product to a trendy children’s item and a pioneer in interactive confectionery. PEZ is now one of the most well-known children’s brands in the world.
Alongside iconic dispensers and classic candies, the company has a wide range of offerings, including tasty fizzy products, dextrose and high-quality fruit gums from Austria – with a particular focus on vegan recipes.
PEZ Head of Marketing Ursula Polymeropulos looks forward to the initiative between PEZ and the art community with pleasure: “PEZ is a brand that has been with people for generations – with PEZ dispensers pretty much automatically bringing a smile to people’s faces. This immediate feeling of joy and lightness connects us to art, as this can also touch us, surprise us and trigger strong emotions.”
Managing Director Bernhard Rehrl and the artist Josef Florian Krichbaum are available for interviews.
After the celebration at Dschungel Wien (27th May), Krichbaum’s Kid Guard show will be exhibited at its own stand at the Affordable Art Fair Vienna (Marx Halle, Karl-Farkas-Gasse 19, 1030 Vienna) from 28th–31st May 2026.
Available from 27th May for €24.90 at the link www.pez.com or www.krichbaum.at
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