Nitsch: Hermann Nitsch
Past Exhibitions exhibition
Overview
MARUANI MERCIER Gallery is pleased to present for the first time, a solo exhibition featuring the works of one of the key figures of Viennese Actionism.
Created in the context of post-fascist Austria, Hermann Nitsch’s provocative paintings, which developed through his famous ceremonial performances Orgien Mysterien Theatre, sit outside the canon of classical painting. Since the 1960’s, Nitsch’s artistic vocabulary revolves around the constant play of tension between life and death, embodied by the use of red pigment and animal blood.
Created in the context of post-fascist Austria, Hermann Nitsch’s provocative paintings, which developed through his famous ceremonial performances Orgien Mysterien Theatre, sit outside the canon of classical painting. Since the 1960’s, Nitsch’s artistic vocabulary revolves around the constant play of tension between life and death, embodied by the use of red pigment and animal blood.
His physical artistic process, which involves the use of unconventional tools, brushes and sponges, as well as his hands, feet, and whole-body movements, is suffused with a strong ritual charge. Based on rituals, sacrifices, bloods, beliefs, communions, Nitsch’s paintings embody the intensity of his performances from which they originate and result. Questioning the myths of European culture, particularly those linked to the Catholic religion, his performances affirm a strong liturgical character where painting, music and theater are intimately connected, replaying in a symbolic way the mysteries of the origins.
The art of Hermann Nitsch and the Actionist must be understood as an emblematic moment of contemporary art, whose constant exploration for the possibilities of pictorial language and revolutionary dimension frees them from the traditional boundaries of art.
Hermann Nitsch is collected by major public institutions like the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA, and the Tate Modern in London. Born in 1938, Hermann Nitsch lives and works in Vienna, Austria.
Installation Views
Works
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Hermann Nitsch19_14, 2014acrylic on canvas200 x 300 cm
78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in -
Hermann NitschK_Luke_21, 2021acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 37/100 x 31 1/2 inches -
Hermann NitschK_Nils_21, 2021acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 37/100 x 31 1/2 inches -
Hermann NitschHF Ina 21, 2021acrylic on canvas200 x 150 cm
78 37/50 x 59 3/50 inches -
Hermann NitschSF_016_12, 2012acrylic on canvas100 x 150 cm
39 37/100 x 59 3/50 inches -
Hermann NitschSF_05_15, 2015acrylic on canvas140 x 100 cm
55 3/25 x 39 37/100 inches -
Hermann NitschHF_35_18, 2018acrylic on canvas200 x 150 cm
78 37/50 x 59 3/50 inches -
Hermann NitschK_05_20, 2020acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 37/100 x 31 1/2 inches -
Hermann NitschHF_Alissa_21, 2021acrylic on canvas200 x 150 cm
78 37/50 x 59 3/50 inches -
Hermann NitschK_14_20, 2020acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 37/100 x 31 1/2 inches -
Hermann NitschPat_11, 2011acrylic on canvas200 x 300 cm
78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in -
Hermann NitschHF_74_20, 2020acrylic on canvas200 x 150 cm
78 3/4 x 59 1/8 in -
Hermann NitschK_06_20, 2020acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 3/8 x 31 1/2 in -
Hermann NitschK_16_20, 2020acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cm
39 3/8 x 31 1/2 in
Media
