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  • Günter Brus
Ohne Titel [Untitled]
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? Gunter Brus

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Ohne Titel [Untitled] 1965

On Display Modern One

This work documents a 'Self-painting', in which Brus covered his whole body in white paint, and then painted black lines over himself to suggest cracks. The collaged pins, razor blades and pen-knife take on the ritual significance of tools of torture, making Brus's body like that of a secular saint. By using his body in this way, Brus reintroduced raw human emotion into art. The collage is typical of the counter-culture which operated throughout Europe and the USA during the 1960s, but also refers to the tortured self-portraits of the Viennese Expressionists, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

Glossary Open

Collage

An image constructed from found materials, such as photographs, paper or fabric, glued to a surface, sometimes with additional painted or drawn elements. It is an art form particularly associated with Dada and Surrealism.

Expressionism

A style that made an impact in the arts in the 1920s, particularly in Germany. Expressionists deliberately abandoned realistic representation techniques in favour of exaggerations and distortions of line and colour that were intended to carry far greater emotional impact.

Collage, Expressionism

Details

  • Acc. No. GMA 3054
  • Medium Mixed media on board mounted on wood
  • Size 77.00 x 77.00 cm
  • Credit Purchased 1987

See related artworks

Located In See floorplan

Modern One Second floor
  • Modern One / Second floor / 21