Publication is permitted exclusively in the context of announcements and reviews related to the exhibition. Please avoid any cropping of the images. Thank you for crediting the photographs according to the enclosed indications.
Günter Brus. A Mad Scrap of Paper
Press release
06.05.2024
Image Credits
Duration
09.05. - 06.10.2024
Opening
08.05.2024 7pm
Press event
06.05.2024 11am - 12pm
Place of the press event
Neue Galerie Graz, BRUSEUM, BRUSEUM
Curators
Roman Grabner
Show all
With the Acid Test (in German, Zerreißprobe), Günter Brus ends his actionist phase and moves beyond self-inflicted injury, yet a body-oriented, auto-aggressive world of motifs finds its way into his drawings.
As early as year-end 1969 he was commissioned by the Kohlkunstverlag in Frankfurt to create a documentary record of his actions. This one final anarchic performance was aimed at the various power institutions such as the church, the state, the judiciary, the army; a furious reckoning with all that constrains man’s potential to develop freely. A Mad Scrap of Paper (Irrwisch) represents the transition from the body to the body of text, and already points to the later picture-poems in the last chapter about the island of peacocks. In 1972 a first, early form of the ‘picture-poem’ is created with the edition titled Europe’s Balcony (Der Balkon Europas).
The exhibition focuses on Günter Brus’ transition from actionist artist to picture-poet, in which not only the original manuscript of A Mad Scrap of Paper is shown, also the key single drawings and editions of these three years.
Further information
Visits to the exhibition are only permitted from the age of 18 due to sensitive content.
Please note: This exhibition contains explicit artistic representations that are intended to provoke thought and promote discussion. Under certain circumstances, these may provoke emotional reactions in some visitors.
Images
Günter Brus, Musik für 2 Glöckchen, 1970, BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz
Universalmuseum Joanneum/ N. Lackner
Günter Brus, Musik für 2 Glöckchen, 1970, BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz
Universalmuseum Joanneum/ N. Lackner
Exhibition views
Marko Mele, Director of Science Universalmuseum Joanneum, Roman Grabner, Curator and Director BRUSEUM, Josef Schrammel, Director of Finance Universalmuseum Joanneum, from left.
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view “Günter Brus. Mad Scrap of Paper” at BRUSEUM
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
More images