Ana: 1. Aktion, 1964

Artist Günter Brus (Austrian, born 1938)

Publisher Galerie Heike Curtze, Galerie Krinziner, [Vienna, 1984?]

Date1964

Dimensionsbox: 24 7/8 x 20 5/8 x 1 1/4 in. (632 x 524 x 32mm)
sheet: 23 1/2 x 19 3/4 in. (597 x 502mm)
photograph (, some oriented vertically): 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (292 x 394mm)
mount: 23 9/16 x 19 5/8 in. (59.8 x 49.8 cm)

MediumOriginal prints: 7 gelatin silver photographs mounted on foam board Text: photolithography on cream wove paper

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss

Object number

1988.103A-G

Not on View

DescriptionGünter Brus, Ana: 1. Aktion, 1964 (Ana: 1st Action, 1964) [1984?] “My actions developed from action painting, from the urge to give it a more spatial form and not exclude the painter from the resulting work.” (Günter Brus) Brus was a member of the Vienna Actionists in the 1960s, along with Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch, and Rudolf Schwarzkogler. Over a period of about 6 years these artists and others performed Actions that shocked, amused, fascinated, and nauseated audiences throughout Europe. An Action was a scenario or series of events that the artist planned and then carried out. Unlike the Happenings in America, these Actions often took place without an audience. Ana took place in Otto Muehl’s apartment. White canvases were hung around the room and Brus was wrapped in lengths of cloth. He used his body to tip over cans of paint to create what he called a living painting. Filmmaker Kurt Kren documented the Action. Twenty years later, the 16 mm film was translated into a portfolio of seven still photographs, which was exhibited and sold by Galerie Heike Curtze.

Exhibition HistorySplendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14--May 11, 2003