Opening: Thursday, May 16, 2024, 6-9 pm

Creation, ecstasy, pain, death, resurrection: As powerful as the topics are that Hermann Nitsch has dealt with throughout his life, as radical and uncompromising is his interdisciplinary work of art, which revolves around the human condition in all its facets. Central to it all is the Orgies Mysteries Theatre (Orgien Mysterien Theater), the basic idea of which Nitsch initially conceived as an archetypal literary drama in 1956. From this, and under the influence of performance art, a large number of projects have emerged that exist at the intersection of life, theater, painting, and music. In addition to Nitsch's thorough examination of Greek tragedy, the Passion of Christ and the Dionysus myth form the foundation of the Orgies Mysteries Theatre: a kind of “experience of fundamental excess and a festival of resurrection, sadomasochistic debauchery and catharsis, brutal dismemberment and harmonizing synthesis, evocation of the myth as a contracted worldview and psychoanalytic therapy” [1]. In 1998, Nitsch's artistic vision culminated for the first time in a six-day play that took place in front of an audience at the artist's residence, Prinzendorf Castle. The primary focus of his artistic activities is the intense experience of all the senses, through which drives, the subconscious, and the repressed, both psychological and physical concerns come to the fore. This applies to ritual performances with bodies and blood as well as his countless painting actions, which are an essential aspect of the Orgies Mysteries Theatre.

Nitsch himself defines painting as the “visual grammar of [his] theater on a pictorial surface” [2]. Alongside red, dominant in Nitsch's painting – as a symbol for blood, flesh, fire, love or passion – for a long time, black is used, which is associated with death and mourning, among other things. Moreover, the works shown reflect a broad spectrum of colors, ranging from warm earth tones to cool blue tones to colorful combinations. Nitsch not only dealt with synesthetic relations and questions of color harmony, but also developed his own color theory.

The diversity that has emerged over the course of his artistic career is also impressively illustrated by his late drawings, which are arranged as a frieze in the gallery. Nitsch describes this as follows: “my scribbling tries to penetrate deep into being, into the groundless (without beginning and end), into the fundamental excess. a total, extensive automatism is applied. the situation of the drives of the unconscious expresses its quakes and shudders through gestures [sic]” [3].

Both the invisible and hidden, existing beneath the surface, function as the setting for the architecture of the Orgies Mysteries Theatre: selected pieces from the 1980s complete the works shown in the exhibition. The connection of human intestines and organs with architectural elements, on the one hand, refers to the unfathomable layers of depth psychology, and, on the other hand, to the underground location of the play, which includes a system of intricate corridors and vaults at Prinzendorf Castle. These are also the reference points for four portfolios, organized according to thematic groups, titled The architecture of the Orgies Mysteries Theatre. Portfolio No. 2 consists of 16 individual prints and 2 folding maps and combines colour lithographs and colour etching. Various proofs and try-proofs were printed in preparation for the Edition, 24 of them are now shown in the exhibition, this selection of proofs is presented alongside two large scale works combining silkscreen and action painting (Das letzte Abendmahl, 2021 und 1983/1988). Between 1984 and 1991 Hermann Nitsch created in close collaboration with Fred Jahn and the printer Karl Imhof a collection of more than 3,300 individual prints in an elaborate printing process (published by Verlag Fred Jahn).

Hermann Nitsch (1938 in Vienna – 2022 Mistelbach) began with his first painting action in 1961 and since the late 1960s has realized countless exhibitions, performances, and concerts around the world. Museums in both Mistelbach and Naples are dedicated to this important pioneer of Viennese Actionism, who also taught at the Städelschule in Frankfurt/Main from 1971 to 2003. Since his death in 2022, some retrospective exhibitions were already dedicated to the work of Hermann Nitsch, for instance 2023/2024 at the K&L Museum in Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea and at the Musée de L'Orangerie in Paris, France.

[1] https://www.nitsch-foundation.com/das-omt-und-seine-disziplinen/ [accessed October 2021]. [2] Nitsch. Neue Arbeiten. New Work, Nitsch Museum, Mistelbach 2020, p. 8. [3] Nitsch, Rita and Nitsch Foundation (ed.): Hermann Nitsch. Zeichnungen, Prinzendorf 2018, p. 5.

Dr. Nadine Seligmann