The O.M. Theatre 80th Action

Image Not Available

Expand

IIIFView PDF

The O.M. Theatre 80th Action

Artist Hermann Nitsch (Austrian, 1938 - 2022)

Publisher Verlag Fred Jahn, Munich, 1988

Printer text: Jens Jahn, Munich reproductions: ZG Reproduktionen GmbH, Munich typography: Max Vornehm, Munich

Author Hermann Nitsch (Austrian, 1938 - 2022)

Date1988

Dimensionsslipcase: 9 3/4 x 7 1/4 x 1 in. (247 x 184 x 25mm)
book: 9 1/2 x 7 x 3/4 in. (241 x 178 x 19mm)
page: 9 5/16 x 6 3/4 in. (237 x 172mm)

MediumReproductions: photolithographs of photographs, most in color Text: photolithography Paper: coated cream wove paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMolly and Walter Bareiss Art Fund

Object number

1989.113

Not on View

Label TextHermann Nitsch Das O.M. Theater: Objekte, Fotos, Konzepte (The O. M. Theater: Objects, Photos, Concepts) (1973) Die Arkitektur des Orgien Mysterien Theaters: Mappe I (The Architecture of the Orgies Mysteries Theater: Portfolio I) (1987) Das Orgien Mysterien Theater 80. Aktion: Aufgeführt vom Sonnenaufgang des 27. bis zum Sonnenaufgang des 30. Juli 1984 (The Orgies Mysteries Theater 80th Action: Performed from Sunrise 27th to Sunrise 30th July 1984) (1988) In the 1960s, Hermann Nitsch was a member of the Vienna Actionists, along with Günter Brus (whose work is also on view in this gallery). Nitsch and his friends staged performance art under the name O.M. Theater (Theater of Orgies and Mysteries). The group examined Germany’s Nazi past as well as contemporary social and religious repression. The artists were also inspired by medieval passion plays, Friedrich Nietzsche's writings on communal ecstasy, and Freudian psychoanalysis. Viewers were exposed to acts of religion, sex, and violence by participants who did not consider themselves actors. All actions were real events. The goal was communal orgasmic emotion. Five portfolios of the documents from these actions have been collected and published, along with prints and drawings connected to the O.M. Theater. These portfolios often took many years to complete. The 80th Action is one example. It was performed in 1984, completed in 1987, and published in 1988. Sheet one of this portfolio is an etching based on Rembrandt’s Christ Healing the Sick (The Hundred Guilder Print), which Nitsch made in 1957 and overworked with various colored inks in 1987. Nitsch is a professor of art in Vienna and Frankfurt. At 65 years old, he continues to perform Actions in the United States and Europe.Exhibition HistorySplendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14--May 11, 2003