Press kit “Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption”

Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
Content
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
1. Press release
2
2. Biography Günter Brus
4
3. Wall texts
8
3.1 Themes
8
3.2 Details about the objects
9
3.4 Notes of Günter Brus
18
4. Factsheet
23
5. Partners & Sponsors
24
Attachments / Information:
- Copyright list
- Wall AG
- Exhibition programme Martin-Gropius-Bau 2016
- Berliner Festspiele, Events March / April 2016
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Presse Office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
As of: 03.03.2016
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
1. Press release
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
Opening Hours Wednesday to Monday 10am – 7pm, closed on Tuesdays, special
opening on 12 April 2016
Organiser: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. An exhibition of Nationalgalerie
– Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Martin-Gropius-Bau in collaboration with the
„BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum“. Made possible by the
Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie. With kind support of the cultural department
of the country Styria and the Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin.
Curator: Britta Schmitz
Communication
Director: Dr. Susanne Rockweiler
Press: Christiane Zippel
T +49 30 254 86 – 236, F +49 30 254 86 – 235
[email protected]
Organisation: Katrin Mundorf
T +49 30 254 86 – 112, F +49 30 254 86 – 107
[email protected]
Since Günter Brus (born 1938 – lives in Graz) first appeared in public
as an “actionist” in 1965 with his “Wiener Spaziergang” (Vienna Walk), he has created
a manifold œuvre. This is the artist’s first exhibition in Berlin, even though Brus lived
there for a long period, and influenced the art scene in the city significantly. The
comprehensive exhibition with the title “Zones of Disruption” leads through his
complete oeuvre, but also focuses on special aspects.
Starting with informal works, the actionist period is shown in films,
photographs, documents and numerous drawings, as well as by giving a vivid
impression of the artistic environment in which the art originated. At the beginning of
the 1960s, Viennese “actionism” had expanded painting not only into the objective,
but also into the physical realm. With his “self-paintings”, Brus played a decisive role
in the performative shift in literature and visual arts. In 1970 the last action
“Zerreißprobe” (Crucial Test) took place in Munich.
After being convicted by court to a prison sentence due to the
“vilification of Austrian symbols and violating public morality and chasteness” in
Vienna, Brus fled into exile to West Berlin. Between 1969 and 1980 not only his most
eminent works were created, but also those with which he was invited to documenta 5
in 1972, and also to documenta 7 in 1982. In the 1970s a creative cosmos originated in
the “Exil” Restaurant in Berlin Kreuzberg, the effects of which are felt to this day in
the artistic and intellectual scenes.
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
Friendship pictures are closely related to this period. Drawings by
artistic colleagues such as Arnulf Rainer, Oswald Wiener, Gerhard Rühm, and many
more, are accorded their own chapter in the exhibition. Günter Brus cultivated a close
relationship with music, stage and his large picture compositions are comprehensively
presented. The exhibition is of a retrospective character, without being a complete
retrospective.
A catalogue of approximately 200 pages is being published for the
exhibition by Verlag Walther König. Catalogue authors: Barbara Catoir, Roman
Grabner, Britta Schmitz.
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Presse Office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
As of: 03.03.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
2. Biography Günter Brus
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
1938
Günter Brus was born on September 27, 1938 in Ardning, Styria,
Austria.
1958–1960
Attended the Akademie für angewandte Kunst (Academy of Applied
Arts) in Vienna. Left without sitting final exams. Pencil and charcoal
landscape drawings exist from this period.
1960
Visited the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, where works by
Goya left a deep impression. Visited the XXX. Biennale di Venezia.
Became involved with documenta II (1959) led him to become
interested in the international Informel movement. Music, especially
modern works by the Vienna School, is an inspiration to him.
1961
Group exhibition Geist und Form with Alfons Schilling, Hermann
Nitsch and Adolf Frohner, organised by Otto Mauer at the
Katholische Hochschülerschaft, Wien.
Brus returned to Gießenberg near Stainz, where he met his future
wife, Anni. They returned to Vienna, where he renewed his interest in
Informel painting.
1962–1963
Encountered Oswald Wiener. Painting series Malerei in einem
labyrinthischen Raum shown at Galerie Dvorak, Vienna
1964
First met Kurt Kren, an experimental filmmaker. Early action
sketches produced. The first action took place in Vienna. Ana with
Anni Brus at Otto Mühl’s apartment in Obere Augartenstraße where
he first used of his own body as artistic medium, making the
transition from Informel to Selbstbemalung I [self-painting] in John
Sailer’s studio in Vienna.
1965
Publication of the Selbstbemalung = Selbstentleibung manifesto.
Other actions: Selbstbemalung II, Silber, Selbstverstümmelung, Ohne
Titel, Starrkrampf, Transfusion. All these actions took place at
Perinetkeller in Vienna, Otto Mühl’s studio, where other significant
Vienna Actionism events were held. None of these events had an
audience. Günter Brus and his wife Anni acted. Photographers,
filmmakers and several actionists were the only witnesses of the
happenings. In Wiener Spaziergang he exposed himself, his body
painted white, walking through the Vienna's city center as a living
picture, publicly debunking the standard presentation of a painting,
showing pictures on gallery walls. After a short time Brus, covered in
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[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
black and white paint, was prevented by the police from reaching
Stefansplatz, who accused him of disturbing the peace.
1966
At the invitation of Gustav Metzger, he participated in the
Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS) in London with Hermann
Nitsch, Otto Mühl, Peter Weibel and Kurt Kren. Actionist Art became
increasingly radicalized.
Actions: 1. Totalaktion – Ornament ist ein Verbrechen, Villa Heller,
Elßlergasse, Vienna, with Otto Mühl. Other actions follow, e.g.
Vietnamparty, with Otto Mühl; Aktion in einem Kreis, Das
Vitriolkabinett, the last three being held in the Perinetkeller.
Head Destruction at the African Centre, London; Ten rounds for
Cassius Clay, St. Bridges Institute, London, with Otto Mühl;
Simultaneous Action, African Centre, London, with Otto Mühl,
Hermann Nitsch, Peter Weibel and Al Hansen.
1967
The film trilogy of actions Pullover, Osmose, Einatmen – Ausatmen,
filmed by Helmut Kronberger, was realised just before the birth of
Brus' daughter, Diana. In the action 20th September Brus moved
from Selbstbemalungen to Körperanalysen.
Other actions, such as Transvestitenaktion and Mit Schwung ins neue
Jahr with Otto Mühl, Rudolf Schwarzkogler and Anni Brus, took
place in Brus' studio in Adalbert-Stifter-Straße.
1968
Actions: Fountain, with Buanano, Kurt Kren, Otto Mühl; Satisfaction
– Günter Brus bittet um Ruhe, alles Gute zum Muttertag wünscht
Otto Muehl, with Otto Mühl, Rudolf Schwarzkogler and Anni Brus,
took place in Günter Brus’ studio.
At the invitation of the students council of the architecture faculty,
Der helle Wahnsinn – Die Architektur des hellen Wahnsinns was
performed at the Reiff-Museum Aachen at the RheinischWestfälischen Technischen Universität (Technical University of
Rhineland-Westphalia). It was the first time where self-harm was
performed in front of an audience in Germany, who also watched
him defecate and urinate. This was followed by Kunst & Revolution
at the faculty building at Vienna University organized by the
Sozialistischer Österreichischer Studentenverband (Socialist Austrian
Students’ Association) with Otto Mühl, Franz Kaltenbäck, Peter
Weibel and Oswald Wiener. In front of an audience of four hundred
people, Brus cut his own chest and thigh, smeared himself with his
own excrement and sung the national anthem while masturbating.
Today, this action is referred to as the “Uniaktion”. At the time, the
tabloids gave Günter Brus the moniker of “Uniferkel” and declared
him to be an enemy of the people and the State. After the action,
Brus was sentenced to the maximum term of six months’
imprisonment for defamation of a symbol of the Austrian state and
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[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
breach of public morals. Brus’ appeal against the sentence was
rejected, although the length of the sentence was reduced to five
months imprisonment, of which he had to serve two.
Other actions followed: Kunststücke, at Otto Mühl’s studio in
Praterstraße and Strangulation at Brus’ studio in Vienna, with Anni
Brus.
1969
Brus fled to Berlin via Munich with his wife and two-year-old
daughter Diana. His close friends, Oswald Wiener and Gerhard
Rühm, had already moved to Berlin. As an artistic protest, they
jointly formed the Österreichische Exilregierung which published
Schastrommel which became the main forum of the exiled avantgarde. It appeared from 1969 to 1975, and then again from 1975 to
1977 under the title Drossel.
A bar called “Exil” which Oswald Wiener ran on Paul-Lincke-Ufer in
Berlin-Kreuzberg was, for years, a lively meeting place for the
international art scene in Berlin. The results of many a communal,
creative endeavor there were published in Schastrommel.
Actions: Kunststücke, Uhlandstraße, Berlin; Blumenstück;
Intelligenztest; Körperanalyse I, with Otmar Bauer. The last three
actions took place in Villa Raspé, Rhumeweg, Berlin. Unlike
countless other Austrian and international artists, Brus was never
invited to participate in the Berlin DAAD artist programme.
1970
The last action that he performed in public was Zerreißprobe, at the
Aktionsraum 1, Munich. This radical 43th action involved Brus
subjecting his body to extreme acts and physical injuries bordering
on mutilation. After this final action, Brus brought actionist phase
of his work to an end.
1971
Brus begins to express himself using text and image in parallel.
The first image and text work was produced in Berlin and Cologne:
Irrwisch.
1972
The beginning of his friendship with Armin Hundertmark, who, since
1970, published multiple art editions by Fluxus artists and Viennese
Actionists.
The first edition of picture poetry appeared as thirty copies, Der
Balkon Europas, published in 1970 by Armin Hundertmark in Berlin. It
marks the beginning of numerous examples Günter Brus' picture
poetry, which he worked on for many years. Participated in
documenta 5, Kassel.
1974/1975
After Brus finished working in an Actionist vein, he produced almost
unquantifiable oeuvre comprised of drawings, picture poetry, books,
theatre works and other ground breaking works.
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Presse Office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
1976
After collecting signatures for a petition, Anni Brus managed to secure
an audience with the Austrian federal president. Brus’ prison sentence
was reduced to a fine.
1978/1979
Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a visual poem produced in Berlin was
exhibited at the DAAD-Galerie, Kurfürstenstraße, Berlin.
Return to Austria.
1980
Participation in Biennale di Venezia.
1982
Participation in documenta 7, Kassel.
1988
Participation in The Sydney of Biennale.
1992
Award of Visual Art of the Federal State Styria.
1997
National Award for his life’s work by the State of Austria.
2002
The first part of his autobiographical novel, Die gute alte Zeit was
published.
2004
Oskar-Kokoschka-Prize
2007
The second part of his autobiographical novel, Das gute alte Wien was
published.
2010
The third part of his autobiographical novel: Das gute alte West-Berlin
was published.
2011
Inaugurative exhibition at BRUSEUM in the Neue Galerie at the
Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, dedicated to Günter Brus:
BRUSEUM – Ein Museum für Günter Brus.
Günter and Anni Brus live in Graz.
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[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
3. Wall texts
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
3.1 Themes
Introduction
Ever since Günter Brus made his first public appearance in 1960, he
created a vast corpus of works, a quantity (tens of thousands) that is difficult to
grasp. This exhibition in Berlin, entitled Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption is a
retrospective look at the manifold, continual output of this Actionist maker of works
on paper, painter and picture poet.
His radical body art has its roots in his activities as part of what
became known as Viennese Actionism, achieving cult status among photographers
and filmmakers alike. Brus was responsible for a change in the standing of the
performativity in the visual arts, literature and music. The films which capture the
aesthetic that became synonymous with Actionism from the likes of Kurt Kren and
Otto Mühl and photographers such as Kasaq (Siegfried Klein) and Ludwig Hoffenreich,
which were as radical as their happenings were.
Actionism had considerable impact at a time when every individual's
own body was subject to the effects of goings-on the world over, up to breaking point,
a Zerreißprobe. The central element of this art as an event, in which analysis of the
self, self-mutilation and analysis of the body became the subject matter, brought
Brus considerable attention in the international art scene. The shift in painting to a
more Actionist approach, away from a painting as something one hangs on a wall to
something that relates directly to the body, from producing an illusion to finding
another way of dealing with reality, took on new dimensions through Günter Brus'
approach.
From early on in his career, Brus was against classification into a
category or discipline, challenging conventional systems. He and his wife Anni violated
taboos whenever they could over the course of his multimedia oeuvre. For this reason,
he was excluded, for many years, from the art scene at large while he also had to deal
with a number of legal cases, even convictions as a result of his provocative activities.
Günter Brus stopped working in an Actionist vein in 1970. Since then,
his explorations of the limits of excess have been works on paper on which letters and
symbols are distorted into unrecognisable visual motifs. The sheer quantity of work he
has produced is testament to his passion and excessive way of creating art. All of
these works are provocative in their radical approach. His characteristically loose,
energetic lines hint at his manner of applying colour while also providing insights into
his deliberations about the human condition and existential issues.
As someone who was able to realise art using words, he surprised
audiences with his titles as well as in his visual poetry and literary endeavours. The
picture poetries, of which he realised more than 800, are testaments of Brus' extensive
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[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
theoretical and cultural knowledge in the form of quotes and bits of art history in his
work.
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption is the first major exhibition of the
artist's work in a museum in Berlin.
3.2 Details about the objects
Der helle Wahnsinn, für Aachen: Die Architektur des hellen
Wahnsinns
In 1968, Brus was invited to stage an action in the Reiff-Museum in
Aachen. The essence of this piece was an existential process: the formation of life,
birth, breathing, feeding, excretion and pain. Instead of the traditional artists’
materials, Brus worked with substances he produces himself: blood and excrement.
With his Körperanalysen, Brus injured himself, defecated and urinated in front of
German spectators for the first time. They watched while he made a wound in his own
chest.
This behaviour, which the cultural understanding of the time
deemed shocking and pathological, was a means of opening up his body. Clad in
everyday clothing, Brus entered a circular arena surrounded by onlookers. He blended
in with those beholding him, only standing out when he began to act, not through his
appearance. In Germany, the action gave rise to robust protests from judicial
authorities.
Sketches for actions
Brus prepared his actions by making numerous sketches. He drew a
body in the various positions he would adopt and the objects required for the event.
These detailed plans were not always adhered to; spontaneous and expressive activity
is characteristic of Brus’ method.
The drawings that remain are of a fragmentary nature, realised, to
save money, with whatever was available – biro, cheap felt pen, pencils – on poor
quality paper. This gives them an unpretentious, everyday look. Elongated, wounded,
mistreated and mutilated bodies are supplanted in an indefinable space. They are
testimony to Brus’ long preoccupation with the work of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and
Oskar Kokoschka: three artists in Vienna around 1900 who were obsessed with the
naked body.
Due to the unstable life he led, early drawings and paintings were
not all preserved. Almost all of the notebooks and sketchbooks have disappeared
entirely as have many of the scores he created for his actionist performances.
Berlin
Brus lived with his family in West Berlin illegally without a valid
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
passport. Thanks to the legal status of West Berlin, Austria had no access to them and
could not issue an extradition warrant. Brus was not pardoned until 1976.
“Berlin wasn’t a matter of choice in the late sixties, we really took
flight. Looking back, it turned out not to be a bolt-hole at all but rather a welcoming
place where one ought to have gone anyway. But without the pressure from outside it
would have been hardly possible to emigrate because we had no money. I remember
lots of discussions with artist colleagues at this time: we repeatedly said that we
should leave Vienna and Austria. But that was referring to the situation at that time.
Because Austria, as we know, is situated behind the Arlberg. In America, people at that
time didn’t even know if Austria was part of the Ostblock (Eastern Bloc) or not.”
In West Berlin, groups of artists formed; they poured in to the
divided city from all over the world. West Berlin offered considerable freedom and Exil
was one of the few meeting places where you could eat and drink well, which fostered
an atmosphere where discussions and work could take place in lively creative
communality.
“When I wasn’t concentrating on work, Exil was my studio at night.
To start with, the only people who gathered here were lefty oddballs, mostly from the
art scene. Later on, it was frequented by prominent figures of dubious importance. At
the regular gathering in particular, it often got turbulent and some Viennese Actionist
adepts would do their best to create a scandal.” (Günter Brus)
Irrwisch
The illustrated volume entitled Irrwisch was created in 1971, marking
the beginning of Brus’ literary activity. These came about as a result of his actions,
which were largely carried out without speech, and which reached a point, with the
self-harming, where a different mode of expression was called for. A publishing
company, Kohlkunst in Frankfurt, commissioned Brus to produce documentation and
summary of his staged actions. Brus was not satisfied with work on this retrospective
and combined text and drawings with any limitations regarding form or content.
Irrwisch can be seen as a link between the actionist body art and
Brus’ literary work. Connecting images and texts, it anticipates his later picture poetry.
Brus began by adding text to photos of his actions, then abandoning this and then
writing down what he freely associated. With this parallel articulation, Brus got rid of
genre definitions, finding a new form of expression.
There is no recognisable chronology or narrative process in Irrwisch.
The different periods of composition are clear in the chapters though. The book’s
processual nature and non-hierarchical structure is one of its great qualities,
originating from an excessive way of working. The connection between the Actionist
work and text is underlined by the spontaneous and immediate writing process, the
open, anti-linear nature of the texts in both content and form. I wanted to write the
words out of my body said Günter Brus of his work and points out the actionist-like
working process which he will retain.
The black and white drawings, which deal with sex and bodily injury,
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Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
are depicted in a drastically hyper realistic way. Sexuality, the sexual and the
aggressive-provocative stance form a way of writing and working against social norms,
breaking taboos, like an outcry against the social constraints that drove him into exile.
Its radical nature places it within the same tradition as William S. Burroughs’ Naked
Lunch. Published in 1962, the novel, a journey through the inner cosmos, is seen as
one of the most influential counterculture books of the 1960s and 70s. It was initially
seen as scandalous, as was Irrwisch. Today, both publications are part of the literary
and artistic cannon.
In 1972, Irrwisch was shown for the first time at Harald Szeemann’s
documenta 5.
Irrwisch is a collection of loose pages in no particular order and, as
such, not actually a uniform work. In this exhibition, it is displayed on a wall for the
first time, complete with frames, and not laid out in a showcase. The work consists of
both images and text and the installation emphasises its pictorial character.
Blumenstück
Spectacular public events often attracted more acclaim than the
few solo actions he was able to organise privately in West Berlin. One carefully
planned performance, based on Blumenstück [Flower Piece], a poem by Gerhard
Rühm, was staged at a friend's house in Grunewald. Günter Brus stood in front of a
music stand, dressed in white underpants and recited from texts which proved,
historically, how the Austrian state treated its artists in the course of history. A tape
recorder recorded everything. An egg, knife, a razor blade and scissors lie ready. Brus
lay on a bed covered by a white sheet decked with red roses. He cut his body with the
razor blade through the linen, blood seeping from the wound in his thigh. Flowers were
stuck into his cut-up underpants and Brus, covered up, urinated on the bed. Reflected
lighting provided by a lamp and a projector added dramatic effect to the
photographic documentation.
blumenstück
die tulpe scheisst auf den rasen
das veilchen furzt in die hand des gärtners
das vergissmeinnicht kotzt ins seidenpapier
die nelke schlatzt auf den stengel
die orchidee onaniert zwischen den fingern des fräuleins
und bekleckert sie bis in den ärmel hinein
die rose stinkt nach schweiss und menstruationsblut
das maiglöckchen rotzt auf das frische tischtuch
die lilie brunzt in die vase
die hyazinthe rülpst auf
(Gerhard Rühm, 19. 4. 1969)
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Films
Thanks to film and photographic documentation of the events, it is
possible to get an intense and convincing impression of what, 40 years in retrospect,
was the advent of body art. The film was a manifestation of the presence, yet much
stronger than that, absence. Footage of the actions was intended to escape
intransience and the passage of time. Thanks to the media of film and photography,
the action is extended; it exists in another chronology, in a new reality. The event itself
is history; film and photography secure its survival. Clearly, documentary media play a
crucial role, in which both the event and the documentation thereof were of equal
importance.
The films do not just carry information; they reveal to the observer
new dimensions of experience and represent a series. Brus made few films himself. He
invited Kurt Kren – a distinguished avant-garde filmmaker to his first action. His artist
friends Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Otto Mühl and Hans Christof Stenzel also made films.
For a long time these films were unavailable in an exhibition setting. The advent of
new digital media has, however, made them more accessible.
Strangulation
In November 1968, shortly before he fled to Berlin, Brus staged
Strangulation. The film was shot from one single static angle. Together with his wife
Anni, Brus acts in their Vienna apartment. The camera was set up in the narrow,
empty passageway. A liquid pours through the letterbox on the inside of the door. Brus
brings his bound wife to the doors, unties her legs and leans her against the doors with
her legs apart. He climbs up the door, hangs with the backs of his knees in a sling and
lets his body hang, head down. Anni Brus curtails the action finally. The action
communicates moments of violence. The film is shot with one static camera angle.
Ana
The first action took place in Otto Mühl’s apartment. Brus and Anni
Brus are the two actors. One room and the objects inside were painted white, like the
white ground of a painting canvas. In these surroundings, Brus acted in the picture
itself. His body was wrapped in white sheets, with which he made reference to the
canvas from which he freed himself with vigorous movements. To end, he used applied
black paint to himself by shaking, spraying and smearing it on to his body, using both
his own, and that of his wife, Anni as a canvas. What ensued is a fusion of painting
and a peformative convergence in which a couple, paint-encrusted to the point of
being unrecognisable, interact. Likewise, the entire room and the objects in it became
a vehicle for an informal painting.
Brus comment about the idea: “in Actionism, you could paint
whatever you wanted, but it still wouldn’t become a painting.”
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Selbstverstümmelung
The subject of this event was the suffering, maltreated body.
Scissors, razor blades, forks, wall hooks and other instruments of torture were
deployed on the body. This film by Kurt Kren is unusually slow as the camera pauses to
take in details, such as a head and body.
Wiener Spaziergang
This was Brus‘ first action performed in public. As in earlier
performances, the artist’s body and clothing were painted white. A black, irregularly
drawn line divided his body into two halves. The walk began at Heldenplatz, where he
got out of a Citroën 2CV. Observed by curious passers-by, Brus walked through the
inner courtyard at Burghof to Michaelstor. The police interrupted the happening and
Brus was fined for being a public nuisance. Kurt Kren and Otto Mühl filmed the action
in strictly documentary style.
Zerreißprobe
Zerreißprobe was the most extreme of Brus’ actions while it also
marks the end of his work in an actionist vein. Brus subjected his body to extremes
until he was on the verge of self-destruction. In the opening scene, he knelt on the
floor on a white cloth, wearing underpants, suspenders and nylon stockings with
several utensils laid out next to him. He cut his thigh and ran water over his hand. He
threw himself on the floor as if he was having a fit. Then he slashed his clothes, drank
his own blue-dyed urine, tied his ankles together, moved his legs apart and made a
cut, with a razor blade, on the back of his shaven head. Blood ran down his back. He
pulled a thread through the wound on his thigh and urinated on the wound. He rolled
on the ground and then left the room, blood-stained.
This event was the dramatic climax of his actionist oeuvre and the
film which documents it is one of the most impressive testimonies to performative art
made at the time.
Friendship pictures
In Berlin, Brus’ had a number of close friends such as Oswald Wiener,
Gerhard Rühm, Dieter Roth and Hermann Nitsch who often came to Berlin, as did
Arnulf Rainer. The artists met in Wiener’s bar, Exil, or in the attic flat occupied by
Gerhard Rühm (who had lived in Berlin since 1964) for working sessions. They realised
works of art that were beyond conventional categories, incorporating literature, music
and visual art. Authorship was not a priority; the artists co-operated closely and
everyone benefitted from this approach. Often, in light of demoralising rejections and
the reactions that the world can offer to the art in question, a feeling of community
and support develops, encouraging individual thought and activity. In this context,
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Brus drew on the 19th century tradition of artists realising portraits of friends and
made drawings of those around him.
La Croce del Veneto
Brus met Francesco Conz, an Italian art collector and publisher, in
Berlin. In 1973, Conz invited Brus to realise a series of pictures for the summerhouse he
was planning in Asolo. The idea was to make works that would then be on permanent
display there. This large format, nine-part series was painted on wood panels shaped
like those on the sides of an altar.
The original idea had been to depict nine cardinals on the panels.
The title of the series was originally Die Kardinäle der Unzucht, which was later
changed to La Croce del Veneto.
Brus decided to change his original idea to exclusively depict
cardinals and their obsessions; the anti-clerical content, critical of religion in general,
was made less severe through the addition of romantic elements from the picturesque,
Mediterranean setting. He hints at imagined funerary monuments for, for example,
the actress Eleonora Duse and her lover, Gabriele d'Annunzio, who had spent time
together in Asolo.
The Mitra appears as a leitmotif, with sexual organs attached, with
which Brus attacked the false sexual morals propagated by Catholicism. This theme
and various approaches to it took a prominent place in Brus' oeuvre. In series
reminiscent of film, he created paintings that were part of installations when he made
the transition from Actionism to focussing on more drawn and literary work. The
emotional aspects of these paintings pave the way for the fairy tale-inspired picture
poetry that followed.
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
After years in which Brus had created art focussing exclusively on
violence and injury, he began to pay more attention to the poetic, dreamer side of his
personality. Both Des Knaben Wunderhorn {The Boy`s Magic Horn]and Vier Abendlieder
[Four evening songs] were realised in West Berlin where he, together with his artist
friends Oswald Wiener, Gerhard Rühm and Dieter Roth, began to make music.
Together, they gave concerts appearing as Selten gehörte Musik and even recorded
some records. Influenced by his passion for music, he began, in the following years, to
enter into a dialogue with works by composers he was fond of, resulting in picture
poetry.
Des Knaben Wunderhorn was presented in 1979 at the daadgalerie in
Kurfürstenstraße, which was then an important venue for the international art scene.
Brus was never part of that institution's residency programme though.
Edition Hundertmark
Towards the end of the 1960s, Brus met Armin Hundertmark, who
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was an energetic member of many artists' circles in Berlin. Expanding on ideas that
had become part of Dadaist tradition, he brought Fluxus, the idea of the happening
and Viennese Actionism together.
Armin Hundertmark had begun to publish affordable editions of
works by a number of different artists, appreciated the Viennese Actionists. Not many
commercial galleries were willing to show work by these scandal-ridden artists. Today,
however, what his so-called Karton editions are recognised as important contributions
to art history and sought after by collectors when they appear on the market, which is
rare. Hundertmark, who lived in a garden allotment, didn't have a telephone much of
the time and had to make ends meet doing odd jobs. He collaborated closely, over an
extended period of time, with Günter Brus.
Brus' work features prominently in many of these editions that he
compiled.
In 1972, Brus sent a gallery owner, Michael Werner, 50 colour A4
drawings that were part of his new series of works incorporating visual elements and
text. Werner was used to Brus' actionist drawing. He sent the newer work back to Brus
with the comment that the artist must be in a crisis. Armin Hundertmark then
suggested to use that group of works as an edition, which was given the title Der
Balkon Europas.Brus glued the rejected drawings on to sheets of paper, freely
associating, by hand, without commenting on the pictures. Between 1972-73, 30 fivepage booklets were issued, presented in boxes as a set of original works of art,
although they all bore the same name.
The texts and drawings are combined differently and bound into a
book, so they cannot be hung up on a wall, also making it impossible to change their
order. This combination of text and drawings proved to be the path that Günter Brus
decided to follow in his career. The doubling of picture poetry, either in book form or
as a single sheet of paper hung on a wall, which made it possible to take in both at
once, hadn't been quite developed yet, but that was soon to come.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
“I started to develop an interest in recent art history when I was 14
years old, starting with Impressionism. From 1967, my interest shifted increasingly to
contemporary art, especially for Fluxus happening artists and the Viennese Actionists.
It was then that I started to collect and purchase art, which I usually had to pay for in
instalments.
In the early 1970s, I wanted to go beyond merely collecting art. My
idea was to issue an edition with small, original works by a number of artists whose
work I thought were significant. Then, either the artist was able to reproduce the work,
or, if that wasn't possible, the artist could send me a model and I could then reproduce
it as necessary. I thought that the result would be collection of objects, collages,
photographs, drawings or something similar, in a small box.
Initially, I asked artists who lived and worked in Berlin: Günter Brus,
Ludwig Gosewitz, Gerhard Rühm and Tomas Schmit.
For the first box, Ludwig Gosewitz kindly provided a small drawing...
around two weeks later, he wrote to me saying that he was finished. I didn't have a
telephone then. We then met in a small restaurant, where he gave me 25 drawings.
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Then Gerhard Rühm also wanted to participate. While at his place, I
met Günter Brus for the first time. I had read the booklet he'd published, “Unter dem
Ladentisch” but didn't have his address at that juncture. So I asked him, while he was
at Rühm's place, whether he was interested in participating as well. Soon after I visited
him. He was living with Ingrid Raspé. His first “Schastrommel” had been published and
he had begun working on a second. I planned on including a photograph from his most
recent event in Munich, “Zerreißprobe” and made 25 copies of the photo which Brus
then signed. Brus provided me with Hermann Nitsch and Otto Mühl's addresses. I wrote
to them about my project and they also sent me signed photographs of their actions.
I asked Tomas Schmit too......
When I had gathered up all of the contributions, had Kartonage
Merker, a company who still work with me in Berlin, make the first 25 boxes. I was able
to have labels printed at a small printing workshop in Mariendorf with the name of the
artist whose work would appear in the box which would be labelled thusly. I attached
the labels and placed a variety of works into it. The first box was ready. I purchased a
block print stamp, arranged the letters and then stamped my pamphlets. No one
ordered any though.“
Armin Hundertmark, 1980
Franz Schreker. Die Gezeichneten
This visual poem is one of the most significant works of art realised
in the late 1970s. Brus' and Franz Schreker had known each other since their youth.
This series was realised to mark the opening of an opera production that Hans
Neuenfels had realised at the Frankfurt opera house.
The picture poetry is a reference to Brus' Anti Moderne manifesto.
“Criticism of this über-Wagnerian pomposity didn't matter to me. It didn't matter to
me later either when we listened to recordings of the event. Even if Adorno wouldn't
have approved, I decided to make the entire libretto into picture poetry. I spent weeks
working on my version of the text and the sound, only vaguely sticking to the plot of
the original opera.” Günter Brus
He consciously made use of a symbolism-laden yet decorative, visual
vocabulary with vivid colours that gave the effect, with the addition of areas with dark
colour posing a contrast to the fantastic landscape in which magical and grotesque
figures play music, dance or simply float about. The symbolistic floral motifs support
the play of text and pictorial elements, independent of each other. Brus preferred
such contrasts to mere illustration.
Zyankal-Zyklamen
Günter Brus continued in his series of romantic works of art, started
in the early 1970s, as a conscious counter to the aesthetic of industrialisation,
returning to the idea of the manuscript: writing by hand. He then combined what he's
written with hand-drawn works-on-paper; not on a formal, ornamental level since his
drawing did not illustrate the text. Here, handwriting and what he drew remain
formally separate, while the extremes meet by placed near each other, thereby having
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an influence on a content-level. This interaction results from his fusing handwriting
and drawing by presenting them on the same surface. Brus was able to make use of
each technique of expression. Text could flow into a picture and vice versa, resulting in
a form of trans-coding.
Das Inquisit
In 1997, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux invited Brus to
participate in their Goya, Hommages exhibition. Especially for the purpose of this
show, Brus realised Das Inquisit, whereby he, for the first time, attached one of his
picture poetry to a canvas as a reference to art history in the form of traditional
material.
Brus had already devoted work to Goya, the Spanish Modernist
pioneer, both in the form of individual drawings as well as literary texts. “Goya is the
most important of all artists to me. I feel as if we share a lot – from the lightness in his
Rococo-esque touches to his absolute drama. Goya is both painterly and literary
simultaneously.... all exiles are family, regardless of why they find themselves in that
situation – whether they be murderers or fortune tellers.” (Günter Brus)
The title picture is a reference to Goya's picture of Saturn (Saturn
devouring his children, from around 1820). The visual poetry expresses motifs that
played an important role in Brus' Action art: obsession, eating and digesting as well as
sons being eaten by their fathers' generation. The title, Das Inquisit refers to the
atrocities and injustice which Brus experienced after being convicted because of his
radical happenings on body analysis towards the end of the 1960s.
Brus’ and Blake’s Job
When one looks beyond the German-speaking world at artists who
worked in more than one medium, a number of predecessors and contemporaries
come to the fore.
William Blake, the English visionary who was known for working in
various media, depicted the conflict between heaven and hell, and combined pictorial
and text elements, was the most important inspiration for Brus. In addition to a
common visual language, Blake also had a similar artistic approach: he fought
against the systems of power, criticised anthropomorphism while he searched
artistically for an increase in dimensions, a dialogue between thought and the senses.
“Blake's way of bringing pictures and words together ornamentally inspired me. I feel
responsible for keeping his ideas alive.”
Blake demanded that beholders of his work make connections
between text and pictures and find the message therein. Brus also works in more than
one discipline. He strives to express this through the use of two different sets of
symbols in between the visual and narrative. The viewer then has to, through the
context of each medium, overcome boundaries, constantly shifting between looking
and thinking and vice versa. Brus assured that both language and pictures retained
their autonomy while infinitely expanding the spectrum for free association.
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3.3 Notes of Günter Brus
Notes on Ana
Günter Brus, 1984
My happenings came about as a direct result of realising action
painting, which resulted from the desire to make my work more “spatial” and wanting
to make the painting process visible.
Following a nine-month long, involuntary stint detained in military
barracks, I found myself in a creative crisis, marked by feelings of resignation and
depression. Fortunately, this was also the period when I met Anni, who became my
wife. She helped me overcome this difficult phase. I was also lucky in that, as I was in
desperate straits financially, 5000,- Schillings were granted to me by the Institut zur
Förderung der Künste thanks to a gentleman named Ati von Auer, so I could realize a
series of large-scale paintings in a basement. (This support remained the only
significant financial assistance I received until I fled to Berlin in 1969.)
I attached Molino, a cheap substitute for canvas, to the walls of
both rooms in the basement, took some thread and made a tension structure in the
space and placed brown wrapping paper therein, reaching from the floor to the
surfaces I intended to paint. I wanted to create a labyrinth which would help me steer
clear of deliberate composition. I thought I'd make a painting that would surround me
and work on from as many directions as possible. By constantly moving through the
labyrinth, I wanted to realize a “de-composition”.
After an involuntary six-month long stay at a hotel in St. Moritz,
where my wife and I worked as dishwashers, I returned to Vienna and found the
basement empty. The strips of Molino that I'd painted had been tossed into a dark
corner. The psychologist and journalist who owned the cellar had, in my absence,
rented the space out to a group who had set up a student club there.
During this period, I rationalized my distraction, my insecurity by
drifting more and more into a mood of resigning to the idea that “art is dead” which
sometimes led me to spend time in an arrogant “Rimbaudduchampism” state of mind.
Countless discussions with Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch and Rudolf Schwarzkogler
contributed significantly to my occasional detachment from focusing on myself.
Muehl was the one, in the end, who managed to help me overcome the obstacles I'd
placed in my own way by introducing me to Kurt Kren, who had established himself as
a maker of experimental films. He was enthusiastic about my plan, which I told him
about at “Café Sport”, to realize a happening involving film.
It took place at Muehl's flat in Obere Augartenstraße. I prepared the
“setting” and “plot” with great gusto. Under less than ideal circumstances, I
attempted to make the entire space, including everything in it, white, to create a
white-on-white setting, an interior utterly without any semblance of the specific
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tactility of inanimate objects. The result was, in the end, a classic white canvas in
three-dimensions.
I then rolled myself around the space, on to the white fabric
surfaces. The effect was like a clump moving across the room. My clothes freed
themselves, in the process, from my tense body. I then found myself in Catalonian
position, with the soles of both feet on the wall as if they were stuck on for a while.
The photographs presented in this portfolio show stages of this process. (Muehl took
the photos. The film material lay undeveloped for decades and this had an impact on
their condition).
The second strand of what was planned as a series of events was
supposed to be one in which I paint my body. At this juncture, a degree of selfreflection and criticism of the ANA idea came to the fore. I poured black paint on
white objects and painted Anni with the intention of making a “living painting”.
Gradually though, a degree of uncertainty manifested itself, which intensified in the
form of a disagreement between two photographers. The resentments between them
eventually resulted in one of them leaving.
Kurt Kren was, despite all the commotion, fully focused on his duties
at his 16mm camera. Gradually, the negative atmosphere intensified; I realized that I
had not considered important elements in my “sheet music” for the entire event. So I
tried to make the most of the situation at hand. In light of the nature of the situation,
I then proceeded to have an uncontrolled fit, in which I then got stuck in a fallen step
ladder on which I had previously performed some of the most horrid gymnastic
exercises, desperately, hastily smearing the walls until I was utterly exhausted. What
an Informalist! Muehl mocked me with horrid curses about my relapse into “technique”
that had to be overcome. He ended up in a fight with Kren that proved anything but
friendly, leading to my decision to end to the project on uncongenial terms.
In retrospect, one could say that Kren's critique at that juncture was
justified as well as necessary, just like all of the other disagreements within our
“actionist group”. Some of my first happenings were, intellectually-speaking,
embarrassing. Nonetheless, they marked a breakthrough, paving the way for
subsequent “body art”. Clearly, I wasn't able to co-ordinate goings-on during the
event with my feelings deep inside as much as I would've liked to have done. I
somehow managed to wiggle free, discovering spaces and even hope.
ANA helped me become aware of other issues. And it was not merely
a matter of becoming aware. Indeed, it ended by my drawing on the artistic technique
that can be referred to a happening or “action”, in the form of the Zerreißprobe
(Munich, 1970) in public as well as Körperanalyse (Berlin, 1970) in my studio.
Notes on Selbstbemalung
Günter Brus, 1984
After my first happening (Ana) I soon realized I needed to distance
myself from the dynamic plot (monodrama) for a while. To begin with, the abc: the
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basic language of how I presented myself had to be postulated. This entailed selfpainting as derived from informal painting.
I used the concept of my own body and the painting process as a
“painting”, as it were, made with my own hands and observed by the camera. John
Sailer, whom I told of my plans, put his studio at my disposal.
I divided these into three categories:
1. Hand-painting
2. Head-painting
3. Total head-painting
In a manner not unlike Arnulf Rainer’s “Übermalungen”, with the
addition of elements of my own actionist process, I endeavored to integrate my own,
ergo the painter’s head into the work. “Die Geburt aus der Auslöschung” was the
name I gave this process years later in a somewhat different context. This total head
painting wasn’t entirely successful since my view of my own head and of the picture
as a whole was out of whack. Later on, I was annoyed by these shortcomings when I
realised how little stamina I had shown in this celebratory act. It can be generally said
that I aimed to correct the errors in one happening in the next one, but that new ones
cropped up straight away. In my own defense, it became apparent that “Direct Art”
provided no opportunity to improve works of art after the event as often is the case in
conventional procedures. One has to accept the terms with the work’s weaknesses.
This was all the harder to bear if the work was realized in front of an audience, but
their presence became an integral part of the idea behind this sort of art. They helped
the fruit ripen.
Notes on Selbstverstrickung
Günter Brus, 2013
There was a frame, approximately 2 meters high,
stored at the legendary Perinetkeller. I stretched Molino on it and then
slit it open. My intention was to appear as a living painting in the
frame. I crept into the frame and curled up in embryo position. Over
the course of the event, I found myself in an ecstatic frenzy, in which I
ripped the canvas apart before getting caught in it.
The living painting was destroyed in the process
and, at the end of this exuberant action, I poured white and black
paint on myself.
Notes on Wiener Spaziergang
Günter Brus, 1989
In 1965, the “Galerie der Jungen Generation” (Vienna, Börseplatz)
made a half-hearted attempt at a “Viennese Actionism” revival. I was given the
opportunity to carry out a self-painting in the gallery. Of course, the happening was
perceived more as an event to open my exhibition “Malerei – Selbstbemalung –
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Selbstverstümmelung” than a work of art in its own right. The show contained pictures
from “Malerei in einem labyrinthischen Raum” in 1963 several drawings and a number
of Ludwig Hoffenreich’s photographs of my happenings. After it was over, a discussion
took place to round things off, with a “team of experts” [Dr. Robert Waissenberger, Dr.
Albert Massiczek, Primarius Dr. Rotter]. The day before this opening, with the
happening and discussion, I decided to counter the atmosphere of compromise
surrounding this event, and underline my artistic intentions more clearly. It could be
said that the activities of this gallery, belonging neither here nor there, drove me out
of the rat-infested cellars onto the streets. I decided to walk through central Vienna
as a kind of living picture, past all the historically-significant buildings. I began my
walk at Heldenplatz. From there, my route took me through Burgtor to the Spanische
Hoftreitschule and on past the Dorotheum, and according to this plan, ending at
Stephansplatz. I gave no indication of what was to happen there, correctly assuming
that thereafter the watchful eye of a keeper of the peace would spot the living
painting and arrest it. This occurred at the corner of Bräunerstraße and Stallburggasse.
Much to the amusement of passersby, a policeman escorted me to the nearest police
station. He took my personal details down and called a taxi. Preparations for this
happening were, of course, accompanied by mounting feelings of nervousness. Otto
Muehl helped me paint my body. Ludwig Hoffenreich sighed intermittently, “Oh man,
this’ll mean either the madhouse or prison!” I confess that I couldn't help but think in
a similar vein: John Sailer conveyed the living painting from Perinetkeller to
Heldenplatz by car, with me ducking every time we stopped at a traffic light. My wife
and several friends followed anxiously at a decent distance. Hoffenreich and Ronald
Fleischmann took photos, Muehl and Schwarzkogler filmed it with a small-gauge film
camera. Of course, the press didn’t want to know about the deeper meaning behind
the happening. They thought that my appearance was an amusing way to publicize
the exhibition.
Notes on ZERREISSPROBE
Günter Brus, 2001
“ZERREISSPROBE” marked the end of my series of happenings (19641970) with the exception of two short 'special appearances' in Munich and Naples.
(Nitsch: OM-Theater)
Sometime later, I began to use the term “KÖRPERANALYSEN” to
describe this “aesthetic of self-painting and self-mutilation”.
In works like “Körperanalyse 1” (Berlin 1969), “Psycho-Dramolett”
and “Zerreißprobe” (both in Munich, 1970) I was able to go far beyond the limits of
extreme Actionism. I pondered going even further and I began to contemplate what
that would entail in contrast to a simply” symbolic-illustrative” approach to the
“direct shamanism” which Joseph Beuys so exceeded at.
Freud analysed the soul. I dug into flesh, going radically beyond what could be
considered disgusting.
After ZERREISSPROBE, I became aware of the consequences of such
progression. Here is a list of the steps (a bit ironically):
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1. The painter paints a surface intended for painting
2. The painter paints himself instead of said surface
3. The painter goes for a walk as a painting
4. The painter undresses and uses his body as a source of painting supplies (blood,
urine, faeces, spit, sweat, tears, etc.)
5. The painter moulds own body into a sculpture which no longer bears a resemblance
to himself.
6. The painter commits “suicide”—and becomes world famous.
I finally stopped working on this project and began making drawings
and writing text for “Irrwisch”. This allowed me to express myself freely in my picture
poetry. In short, I didn't want to end up as a master of super Van Goghism.
Generally, most artists hope for immortality through their work. I
wanted that too.
Cemeteries, whether ordinary ones, or where the ashes of those
cremated are buried or where skulls are kept, were visited, obviously, like museums
are during secular times, without even mentioning popular shows featuring mummies
from classical Egypt.
Unfortunately, Snow White was kissed awake while she laid in her glass coffin.
Otherwise this would have been the best solution for an artist's presentation of his or
herself as a work of art. It won’t be long before fairy tales stand in the way of wishful
thinking. By then, the arts will have turned into fairy tales.
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4. Factsheet
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
Entrance Fees
€ 10 / Reduced € 7, Groups (from 5 Persons) € 7 / person.
School class groups € 5 / person.
Admission free for children and youths under 16
Online Tickets: www.gropiusbau.de/tickets
Catalogue
Published by Verlag Walther König
German, Hardcover
Museum price 29 €
Bookstore price 34 €
Tours
Public tour
Sunday, 4 pm (no registration required)
€ 3 plus entry fee of € 7 per person
Pre-booked tours
For groups: Tours in German (60 min.)
Adults € 60 plus entry fee of € 7 per person
School groups: € 45 plus entry fee of € 5 per person
Children under 16 free
Tours in other languages € 10 extra
Lunch tours: Wednesdays 1pm
6/4, 4/5, 1/6/2016
Information and tour bookings
MuseumsInformation Berlin
Tel. +49 30 24749-888, Fax +49 30 24749-883
[email protected]
www.museumsdienst-berlin.de
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Presse Office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
As of: 03.03.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
5. Partners & Sponsors
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 June 2016
Organizer:
BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz
Made possible by:
Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie
With kind support of:
Partners:
Media partners:
The Martin-Gropius-Bau is funded by:
Page 24 / 24
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Presse Office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
As of: 03.03.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
Attachments
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
12 March – 6 Jun 2016
Attachments / Information:
- Copyright list
- Wall AG
- Exhibition programme Martin-Gropius-Bau 2016 (March 2016)
- Berliner Festspiele Events March / April 2016
- Flyer
——
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Press office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
State: 04.03.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus. Störungszonen
Günter Brus. Störungszonen
Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin
12. März – 6. Juni 2016
Bitte beachten Sie die Bildlegenden. Das Bildmaterial dient ausschließlich zur
aktuellen redaktionellen Berichterstattung über die Ausstellung „ Günter Brus.
Störungszonen(12. März bis 6. Juni 2016) im Martin-Gropius-Bau. Die Berichterstattung von Text und Bild muss im Verhältnis 1:1 stehen, dann ist das Bildmaterial für 5 Bilder kostenfrei. Die Bilder dürfen nicht beschnitten, überdruckt oder
manipuliert werden. Bitte vermerken Sie bei der Veröffentlichung die Angaben
der Bildlegende. Die Rechte für Titelbildnutzungen und Bildstrecken sind bei dem
jeweiligen Rechteinhaber direkt einzuholen und können kostenpflichtig sein. Wir
bitten um Zusendung von 2 Belegexemplaren an die unten genannte Adresse.
Please respect the copyright. All image material is to be used solely for editorial
coverage of the current exhibition “Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption” (March
12th to June 6th 2016) at the Martin-Gropius-Bau. Please always mention the
name of the artist, the work title and the copyright in the caption. The images
must not be altered in any way, such as being cropped or printed over. The
rights of use for title-page photos or photo spreads are to be obtained directly
from the respective copyright holder. The ratio of text to image in the coverage
should be 1:1, in which case there will be no charge for the use of 5 photos.
Please send us 2 copies of your article to the address mentioned below.
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Pressearbeit / press office:
Tel: +49 30 25486-236 | Fax: +49 30 25486-235 | [email protected]
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit / public relations:
Tel: +49 30 25486-123 | Fax: +49 30 25486-107 | [email protected]
Download der Bilddateien unter / Download of the images at:
www.gropiusbau.de/pressefotos
01_Wiener Spaziergang, 1965_1.jpg
Günter Brus
Wiener Spaziergang, 5. Juli 1965
Innenstadt, 1010 Wien
© BRUSEUM / Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Foto: Ludwig
Hoffenreich
Seite 1 / 4
——
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Pressebüro, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
Stand: 07.01.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus - Störungszonen
02_Wiener Spaziergang, 1965_1.jpg
Günter Brus
Wiener Spaziergang, 5. Juli 1965
Innenstadt, 1010 Wien
© BRUSEUM / Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Foto: Ludwig
Hoffenreich
03_Blumenstück.jpg
Günter Brus
Blumenstück, Rhomeweg Berlin, 1969
© BRUSEUM / Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Foto: Klaus
Eschen
04_Wahnsinn.jpg
Günter Brus
Der helle Wahnsinn, Reiffmuseum,
Aachen, 1968
Privatsammlung
© BRUSEUM / Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Foto: Hennig
Wolters
05_Informel.jpg
Günter Brus
Informel, 1960
125 x 90 cm
© Sammlung Heike Curtze; Foto: Max
Spilke-Liss
Seite 2 / 4
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Pressebüro, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
Stand: 07.01.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus - Störungszonen
06_BlindesBlut.jpg
Günter Brus
Blindes Blut, 1983
© Sammlung Peter Raue; Foto: Thomas
Bruns
07_Zyankal.jpg
Günter Brus
Zyankal-Zyklamen, 1982/83
5-teilge Bilddichtung
Ölkreide auf Packpapier, je 106 x 79 cm
© Privatsammlung Graz
08_Stoerungszonen.jpg
Günter Brus
Ich treibe nur in Störungszonen, 1985
© Sammlung Helmut Zambo Badenweiler/Wien; Fotograf: Samir Novotny
Seite 3 / 4
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Pressebüro, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
Stand: 07.01.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Günter Brus - Störungszonen
09_Schilfgesang.jpg
Günter Brus
Neuer Schilfgesang, 1983
Kohle, Wachs- u. Ölkreide auf Papier
und Leinwand, 158 x 249 cm
© Sammlung Essl; Foto: Archiv des
Künstlers
10_Ichbildnis.jpg
Günter Brus
Ichbildnis, 2005
50 x 70 cm
© Sammlung Heike Curtze; Fotograf:
Max Spilke-Liss
Seite 4 / 4
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Pressebüro, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
Stand: 07.01.2016
Company Profile – Wall AG
Wall AG. For Cities. For People.
Wall AG is an international specialist in street furniture and outdoor advertising and part of
JCDecaux SA Group, the number 1 in outdoor advertising worldwide.
Founded in 1976, Wall AG shapes the public space with future-proof street furniture,
collaborating with renowned architects and designers. Self-cleaning, handicapped-accessible CityToilets, waiting shelters, city information panels, functional pillars, kiosks and high-quality
advertising displays are manufactured in the company-owned production plant at Velten in
Brandenburg. Wall's street furniture products are provided to cities free of charge. The company's
investment is refinanced through marketing the integrated advertising panels. Up to now, Wall
has developed more than 28 different design-lines for the urban space.
Wall is committed to a "single-source-philosophy". Development and manufacturing, cleaning and
maintenance of street furniture as well as the marketing of advertising spaces rest exclusively in
the hands of Wall AG. Wall's products and services are distinguished by innovation, quality and
sustainability.
Wall's business model opens up new chances and spaces not only for partner cities, but also for
outdoor advertising. Advertising displays by Wall pinpoint the medial advantages: Wall premium
advertising panels are distinguished by their highly frequented locations in public squares and
streets, their eye-catching size and their convincing quality of exposure. Marketing focuses on
class, not mass: Wall relies on superior quality to speak for itself.
Since January 2011, Wall AG and JCDecaux Deutschland GmbH are jointly marketing their
advertising spaces in more than 60 German cities – including all of Germany's million-strong cities
– under the sales brand WallDecaux Premium Outdoor Sales as a division of Wall AG. WallDecaux
is the largest provider of advertising displays in City Light Poster (CLP) format across Germany. All
in all, Wall markets more than 91,300 advertising panels Europe-wide, including 6,332 advertising
panels on means of transportation like tramways, busses, metros and trucks.
Since the beginning of the year 2011, Wall AG's executive board is also responsible for the
management of JCDecaux Deutschland GmbH. Wall AG oversees 1055 employees in Germany and
Turkey.
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Exhibitions 2016
Exhibitions Martin-Gropius-Bau 2016
21 January – 16 May 2016
Art of Prehistoric Times
Rock Paintings from the Frobenius Collection
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. An exhibition of the
Frobenius-Institute of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. In
cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau.
12 March – 6 June 2016
Günter Brus. Zones of Disruption
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. An exhibition of
Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Martin-Gropius-Bau in
collaboration with the „BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum
Joanneum“. Made possible by the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie.
With kind support of the cultural department of the country Styria and the
Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin. Curator: Britta Schmitz
19 March – 12 June 2016
Lee Miller - Photographs
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. An exhibition of the
Albertina Wien in cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Lee
Miller Foundation. Curator: Walter Moser
9. April – 26. June 2016
Isa Genzken: Make yourself Pretty!
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele/Martin-Gropius-Bau. Enabled by the Capital
Cultural Fund Berlin.
12 April – 7 August 2016
Maya - Language of Beauty
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. Made possible by the
Capital Cultural Fund. An exhibition of the National Institute of
Anthropology and History (INAH), Mexico. Supported by the Foreign
Ministry of the United Mexican States and the Mexican Embassy, Berlin.
12 May –21 August 2016
NO, IT IS! William Kentridge
Exhibitions / Performances / Lectures
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. Enabled by the
Capital Cultural Fund Berlin.
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Press office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
State: 01.02.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Exhibitions 2016
11 June – 18 September 2016
Thomas Struth
Nature & Politics
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau. In cooperation with
the Museum Folkwang, Essen, and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
1 July – 3 October 2016
Berenice Abbott - Photographs
Organizer: Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau in cooperation with
diChroma photography, Madrid.
Curator: Anne Morin
16 July – 26 September 2016
Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR
Organizer: Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V. With the kind support of Stiftung
Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin, Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband
and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb).
Curators: Eugen Blume and Christoph Tannert
21 October 2016 – 15 January 2017
Building with Timber – Paths into the Future
Organizer: Technische Universität München. An exhibition of the Associate
Professorship of Architectural Design and Timber Construction and the
Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München in cooperation
with Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ, supported by the German
Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the German Wood Council
(DHWR), the German Association of Housing Enterprises and Housing
Cooperatives (GdW) and proHolz Bavaria.
12 April 2017 – 5 November 2017
The Luther Effect
Protestantism – 500 Years in the World
Organizer: Deutsches Historisches Museum. Made possible by the Federal
Government Commissioner for Culture and Media. With kind support of
Kulturfonds des Deutschen Sparkassen- und Giroverbandes.
The Martin-Gropius-Bau is supported by the Federal Government
Commissioner for Culture and Media
Page 2 / 2
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Martin-Gropius-Bau
Press office, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin, T +49 30 254 86–236, F +49 30 254 86–235
[email protected], www.gropiusbau.de
State: 01.02.2016
Berliner Festspiele
Events March/April 2016
MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues
11 to 20 March 2016
—
A number of projects makes space for the distinct
temporality of music – forms of time that resist acceleration,
standardisation and the dictate of efficiency. From the opening
project “time to gather” with Marino Formenti, the fourhour concert experiment “alif” and Mazen Kerbaj’s new sound
installation, to the grand finale of the festival, “The Long Now”:
MaerzMusik develops and presents performance formats in
which time itself can unfold, and along with it different modes of
perception and encounter can take place.
Marino Formenti © Sascha Osaka
A group of projects is centred around Schubert’s
seminal epic of loneliness “Die Winterreise”: Elfriede Jelinek’s
pitiless theatre text of the same name, Bernhard Lang’s metacomposition “The Cold Trip”, Daniel Kötter’s and Hannes Seidl’s
music theatre “LIEBE” and Ian Bostridge’s staggering Schubertinterpretation have a common vanishing line in tackling an
entirely analogue host of timeless questions.
And finally, MaerzMusik 2016 takes a glance at topical
positions in contemporary composition, presenting new works by,
amongst others, Joanna Bailie, Matthew Shlomowitz, Alexander
Schubert, Eduardo Moguillansky and Timothy McCormack,
performed by Plus-Minus Ensemble and Ensemblekollektiv Berlin.
“The Long Now” will be the closing event of
MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues 2016. In the monumental
setting of Kraftwerk Berlin, concerts, dance performances and
electronic live acts will combine with sound and video installations
to form a large-scale composition in space and time.
http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/maerzmusik
One day with ... Andrzej T. Wirth
10 April 2016, 04:00 pm, Haus der Berliner
Festspiele
—
Performances, exhibitions, films, video, lectures
and conversations featuring Andrzej T. Wirth and guests.
Andrzej Wirth © Pawel Kocambasi
This godfather of the postdramatic, born on 10
April 1927 in Wlodawa in Eastern Poland, has always been right
where the theatre was blooming at the time. What Andrzej
T. Wirth saw, he analysed and rehearsed with his students at
universities in the USA, in Berlin and Sydney – until he founded
the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies (Institut für Angewandte
Theaterwissenschaft, ATW) at the University of Gießen in 1982.
Berliner Festspiele
Press office, Schaperstrasse 24, 10719 Berlin, T +49 (0)30 254 89–269, F +49 (0)30 254 89–155
[email protected], www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Berliner Festspiele
Events March/April 2016
To celebrate his 89th birthday, his students and
protégés will present performance pieces developed especially
for this occasion. They will recall the stages of his encounters and
his work, spanning seven decades on three continents, in visual
art pieces, texts, photographs and film-documents.
„One day with …“ is a series of events hosted by Berliner
Festspiele and conceived in cooperation with the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin
und Gerd Bucerius. Four times a year, one artist and his or her cosmos
will be presented at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, in a situation that
encourages a change of perspective.
www.berlinerfestspiele.de/eintag
Save the date: 53rd Theatertreffen
—
The Theatertreffen will take place from 6 to 22 May
2016. The choice of the ten invited productions is:
– „der die mann“ based on texts by Konrad Bayer. Directed by Herbert
Fritsch. Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
– „Effi Briest – allerdings mit anderem Text und auch anderer Melodie“
(Effi Briest – although with a different text and a different melody)
by Clemens Sienknecht & Barbara Bürk based on Theodor Fontane.
Directed by Clemens Sienknecht und Barbara Bürk.
Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg
– „Ein Volksfeind“ (An Enemy of the People) by Henrik Ibsen. An adaption
by Dietmar Dath. Directed by Stefan Pucher. Schauspielhaus Zürich
„der die mann“ © Thomas Aurin
– „John Gabriel Borkman“ based on Henrik Ibsen by Simon Stone.
Directed by Simon Stone. Burgtheater at Akademietheater Wien/
Wiener Festwochen/Theater Basel
– „Mittelreich“ (Middle Rich) based on Josef Bierbichler.
Directed by Anna-Sophie Mahler. Münchner Kammerspiele
– „Schiff der Träume“ (And the Ship Sails On) A European requiem
based on Federico Fellini. Directed by Karin Beier.
Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg
– „The Situation“ by Yael Ronen & ensemble. Directed by Yael Ronen.
Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin
– „Stolpersteine Staatstheater“ (Tripping Stones State Theatre)
by Hans-Werner Kroesinger. Directed by Hans-Werner Kroesinger.
Staatstheater Karlsruhe
– „Tyrannis“ by Ersan Mondtag. Directed by Ersan Mondtag.
Staatstheater Kassel
– „Väter und Söhne“ by Brian Friel nach Iwan Turgenjew.
Directed by Daniela Löffner. Deutsches Theater, Berlin
The programme schedule will be published on 8 April 2016.
Advance ticket sales will start on 16 April at 10:00 am.
www.berlinerfestspiele.de/theatertreffen
Berliner Festspiele
Press office, Schaperstrasse 24, 10719 Berlin, T +49 (0)30 254 89–269, F +49 (0)30 254 89–155
[email protected], www.berlinerfestspiele.de