Masterful Prints by Günter Brus & Hermann Nitsch

Exhibition opening

May 13, 2023, 2pm — 4pm

Galerie Sommer in Graz-Liebenau, Graz, AT

Galerie Sommer warmly invites you to the opening reception of the exhibition “Masterful Prints by Günter Brus & Hermann Nitsch,” with the presence of Günter Brus. The exhibition will be opened by Roman Grabner from the Universalmuseum Joanneum.

Günter Brus and Hermann Nitsch are internationally known as the key figures of Viennese Actionism and pioneers of performance art. Photographs of their actions are displayed in major museums around the world, as are the countless drawings by Brus and the expansive pour paintings by Nitsch. However, their printmaking has only gained public attention in recent years. Although Nitsch had already produced exemplary work in the 1950s, due to his training at the Graphischen Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Graphic Training and Research Institute) in Vienna, both artists began to consistently incorporate printmaking into their practice only in the 1980s.

Brus, the proponent of “direct art,” works directly on the printing plates without prior sketches, using tools such as a burin, stylus, knife, and whatever else is available to him. He remains committed to the visual language of his parallel drawings and poetic images. Nitsch sees printmaking as a means of reproducing his architectural drawings, which he began creating in the mid-1960s for his Orgies Mysteries Theater. Printmaking is an integral part of his total work of art, and it is not surprising that he prints on relics from his performances, combines his printing plates, and layers them like strata, sometimes adding his own handwork.

Collaborating with Viennese printer Kurt Zein, who passed away in August of last year, was also crucial for both artists.

Galerie Sommer in Graz-Liebenau
Liebenauer Hauptstraße 322
8041 Graz
Austria
www.galeriesommer.com