"Hermann Nitsch and Yang Shaobin at White Space Beijing"
2006-04-12 until 2006-06-11
Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin Beijing
Beijing, , DE Germany

Works by Hermann Nitsch and Yang Shaobin are shown at White Space Beijing through June 11, 2006. The Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch is considered the most important pioneer of Vienna Actionism, which initially made a name for itself with action painting influenced by tachism and abstract expressionism in the 1950s. Nitsch developed beginning in 1958 his concept of the Orgy Mystery Theater, a Gesamtkunstwerk that claims the attention of all the senses. A psychoanalytic dramaturgy attempts to effect a catharsis in the viewer by staging excessive actions.

After Hermann Nitsch was exhibited in China for the first time, Nitsch's part in the exhibition follows this idea. It shows with painting and 'Schüttbildern', video, photography and relics a comprehensive overview of Nitsch's work, at the focal point of which is the Orgy Mystery Theater.

Yang Shaobin was born in 1963 and now lives in Beijing. In his 2004 catalogue, he is included beside works by Francis Bacon and Arnulf Rainer, artists who influenced him in various ways, a photograph of a crucified ox, with an ripped open corpse and a person tied to him, taken at Hermann Nitsch's Six Day Play from 1998. With these illustrations, Yang pointed to a central issue in his work: the tension between individual violence and compassion with the human creature.

With the exhibition Hermann Nitsch/Yang Shaobin Alexander Ochs continues the exhibition series begun in 2003 in Shanghai, EurAsianDialogues. The series has included up until now the exhibitions Jörg Immendorff/ Fang Lijun; A.R. Penck / Lü Sheng Zhong (2004) und Franz Gertsch / Fang Lijun (2005); now offering an encounter between Nitsch and Yang Shaobin. 

The exhibition will be opened by the Austrian Ambassador to China, Dr. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, the director of MuMOK-Museum für Moderne Kunst/Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Prof. Edelbert Köb and Fan Dian, the director of NAMoC, National Art Museum of China, Beijing.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Germany

Other Important Exhibitions in Germany

Syncretism : Steven Rehfeld and Guy Clement Cohen - Art People Gallery Work by John Powell Selected for Through the Eyes of Love Exhibition - ArtCenter of South Florida - Miami Beach Community Health Center Once Upon a Graffiti by Helene Mukhtar - Ion Studio Corporeal Dream : A Solo Exhibition by Lie Fhung - SIGIarts Call for Artists : Proposals for Public Art Project - Southern Alberta Art Gallery Call for Artists : Community Arts Initiative - The Artist Project - Museum of Fine Art Boston Alexis Harding : Bi-product Depositories - Mummery + Schnelle Gallery der PROZESS : hunchentoot goes out 2 - Enda Odonoghue to Take Part - hunchentoot Galerie INTIMACY AND DESECRATION : The Body, Gender and Identity - CACT - centro d'arte contemporanea ticino Mark Edward Harris : The Art of the Japanese Bath - Kopeikin Gallery Call for Artists : 13th Annual Subtle Technologies Festival Explores Sustainability - Subtle Technologies, University of Toronto Art in Mind : Work by Natalia O'Neill - Brick Lane Gallery The Ione Citrin Collection - Poway Center for the Performing Arts Gallery Parallel Realities : Aishan Yu's First Solo Show in the UK - Peifen Fine Art Secrets and Confessions : Peter Sudar, John Stark, Leonard Vartic, Ioan Cristea - Ana Cristea Gallery