Fragility of being

Günter Brus, Self painting 2 (1964)

FRAGILITY OF BEING

Until August 16th 2009 at Romania’s MNAC (National Museum of Contemporary Art) there’r on exhibition works from the collection of  Museum der Moderne, Salzburg. The exhibition includes photography and video creations by 33 Austrian artists and is curated by Margit Zuckriegl. The terror inflicted by the Nazi regime, the threats  and insecurities generated by globalization, the countinous alteration of values, life in an increasingly unhuman environment,  the rapid and chaotic pace of today’s living, the individual’s anxieties and evasions – all imprint the counsciousness of the modern man with a sense of  being’s fragility.

Artists: Iris Andraschek, Sabine Bitter / Helmut Weber, Guenter Brus, Carola Dertnig, Johannes Deutsch, Peter Dressler, Valie Export , Bernhard Fuchs, Seiichi Furuya, Dorothea Golz, Manfred Grubl, Ilse Haider, Ralf Hoedt, Frantz Hubmann, Paul Kranzler, Paul Albert Leitner, Michael Mauracher, Inge Morath, Michaela Moscouw, Hanns Otte , Constanze Ruhm, Eva Schlegel, Werner Schrodl, Rudolf Schwarzkogler , Otmar Thormann, Harry Weber , Manfred Willmann, Anita Witek.

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Because I’ve noticed the cover image chosen for this exhibition’s promotion is a work by Günter Brus, I shall enlarge a bit on his art. Born in 1938, he is an Austrian painter, graphic artist, performance artist and film maker, especially known as co-founder of the “Wiener Aktionismus” (Viennese Actionism). This radical, often violent movement can be associated with the many independent attempts during the ’60s aimed at building a sort of action art, as opposed to previous static, commodifiable, object-focused artistic practices. It was an art of transgressing artistic, social and political stereotypes by aggresively breaking taboos and shocking the audiences. This type of  revolutionary, experimental art is to a certain extent still present today in visual arts, literature and music. To give a hint of what shocking meant to Brus – he was sentences to 6 month in prison for performing a scene during which he got naked, cut himself, defecated, masturbated, while singing the Austrian national anthem. Actually, much of his work is regarded as controversial because of its ability to push spectators out of their comfort zone. His art often uses black & white body painting and prevalent materials include scissors, blades, saws and nails. What seems to be iconic is his usage of black lines (see pictures) as symbols of separation and fragility – a hint of the injury, vulnerability of the body and an analytical symbol, according to Brus. Just like a painting’s conventional fabric would be degraded for art to evolve/escape, the human body is ritually mutilated to suggest new territories, supports and aims of artistic creation. This is suggested by his 1965 exhibition: “Malerei, Selbstbemalung, Selbstverstümmelung”  (Painting, Self-Painting, Self-Mutilation). His works are today exhibited throughout the world and it is surely an honor for the MNAC in Bucharest to temporarily host creations of such an innovative artist.