Viennese Actionism
About
Viennese Actionism emerged in Austria in the 1960s around its founding member, Hermann Nitsch, whose elaborate, ritualistic performances were a shocking combination of sexuality, moral taboos, violence, and disgust. Drawing on religious symbolism, Actionist events frequently incorporated animal slaughter and bodily fluids and were interpreted as an aggressive assault on mainstream culture, attracting the attention of the authorities and leading to the criminal prosecution of some of the group’s members. Through primarily active as performance artists, members like Nitsch and Otto Muehl also translated their interest in the extremes of the creative act to gestural, if not violent, painting.
