From the exhibition series: “NITSCH. A homage by…”, the Nitsch Foundation and Ms. Rita Nitsch is pleased to announce “From pain comes pain, then laughter”, a solo exhibition of British Born Artist Joseph Sakoilsky at the Nitsch Foundation, Vienna from June 28th to July 26th 2024. The third exhibition in the series: ‘NITSCH. A homage by….’ presents works by artists who influenced and accompanied Hermann Nitsch during his life, as well those who have been influenced by Nitsch’s total body of work.
Joseph Sakoilsky is an actionistic painter and sculptor. The artist’s relationship with the work of Herman Nitsch began in his childhood, first meeting Nitsch in 1997 at an exhibition of The Orgies Mysteries Theatre exhibition in London, and since has followed the work and been influenced. He has attended Prinzendorf several times, and taken part in actions.
For this exhibition, Sakoilsky is exhibiting three series of works. Each work involves an actionist approach. The canvases are remnants of painting actions, the residue of the self through the processes of expulsion, exhaustion and release. The artist turns the internal to external. In the “Punch Painting” series, the canvas is marked not by a brush, but with his own fist. In short and fast paced actions, the colours explode onto the canvas, in hues taken from historically classical images. The artist encourages the viewer to discover an absurd humour where the artist is in futile combat with the artwork.
“Every human suffers, just some of us learn to laugh” – Joseph Sakoilsky
The exhibited pieces reveal a common thread of physical and emotional endurance. Alongside paintings, actionistic performances and sculptures will also be shown. Two performance pieces to be shown are: “Expulsion,” which is based on the banishment from paradise of Adam and Eve. The artist and his wife, Kata Oelschlägel, wash each other with black paint, symbolising the Fall of Man. A second performance piece titled: “Carrying my own weight”, is the result of the artist carrying his own body weight across the studio floor, each drag, collapse and pratfall recorded by black paint.
The opening of the exhibition “From pain comes pain, then laughter!” will take place in the presence of the artist on June 28 from 6 p.m. at the Nitsch Foundation, Hegelgasse 5, 1010 Vienna, where his works can then be viewed until July 26.
For questions and press information, please contact:
Paul Breitenfelder
breitenfelder@nitsch-foundation.com
tel. +43 (0) 670 556 1551
Hermann Nitsch is a member of the copyright collecting agency Bildrecht GmbH.
All film and photo shootings must be arranged and approved in advance. Because the shootings are supervised by the Press Department of the Foundation, we kindly request appropriate notice for commercial shootings and press work not related to any urgent reporting needs.
e: office@nitsch-foundation.com
t: +43 1 513 55 30
