Kurt Kren

Kurt Kren's films are based on acts performed by members of the "Vienna Actionists" movement. The artists in this group, which was active from the 1950s to the 1970s, created works characterized by gory and perverse ritual acts that challenged social institutions; these acts constituted an exaggeration of social madness, which was meant to allow for a process of purification and catharsis. Kren was attracted to these works due to the affinity he found between the aggressive processes they contained and the sharp cuts in his films - which resulted in quick flickers that aggressively strike the eye. The film included in this exhibition, Self Mutilation / Gunther Brus (1964), contains images of Gunther Brus engaged in a series of sadomasochistic acts that relate sex and death to guilt and punishment, and which were edited in Kren's intensive style.

Born in Austria, 1929-1998