Exhibition/event has ended.

Hermann Nitsch Exhibition

Yamamoto Gendai
Finished

Artists

Hermann Nitsch
Hermann Nitsch is an artist, composer and author. Since the 1960s he has been staging intense performances as part of the Viennese Actionism movement.
Nitsch cuts open animal carcasses and hangs them upside down, while a cast of naked men and women hurl blood-like fluids, intestines and other organs at each other in "Action" performances, reinterpretations of religious and pagan rites and festivals, as well as sacrificial rituals. These acts of abject intensity, where actors rip organs out of the corpses of dead goats and bulls jolt the safety clasps that hold fast the minds and emotions of onlooking spectators, unsettling the bases of human instinct. These scenes also represent a spontaneous recall of primitive acts of praying for abundant harvest that we have now lost touch with.
In addition to a retrieval of black mass based on Christian symbolism and rites of exorcism, Nitsch's performances also represent a confrontation of the fact of social Darwinism, of snatching away the lives of others for the sake of one's own existence - a fact which is suppressed by contemporary life, often concealed behind polite, civilized veneers.
Besides staging performances all over the world, Nitsch also holds solo and group exhibitions at major museums. This show at Yamamoto Gendai features a series of "poured paintings" and video recordings and photographs of past Actions, as well as a variety of props and objects used for the performances.

Schedule

Nov 12 (Wed) 2008-Dec 6 (Sat) 2008 

Opening Hours Information

Hours
11:00-18:00
Fridays closing at 20:00
Closed
Monday, Sunday, Holidays
Notice
Exhibition Hours 11:00-19:00

Opening Reception Nov 12 (Wed) 2008 18:00 - 20:00

FeeFree
VenueYamamoto Gendai
http://yamamotogendai.org/
Location3F Terrada Art Complex, 1-33-10 Higashi Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0002
Access8 minute walk from Tennozu Isle Station on the Tokyo Monorail or Rinkai line. From JR Shinagawa station, take the Toei bus (towards Yashio Park Town), and get off at Tennouzubashi. The venue is 3 minute walk from there.
Phone03-6433-2988
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