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Croydon to stage exhibition of art with a Nitsch audience

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Croydon Council is this week staging a retrospective of works from the archive of the controversial Austrian avant-garde artist Hermann Nitsch.

Hermann Nitsch: his work  is ‘revered and reviled in equal measure’

The Smithsonian website has said that “The performance art of Hermann Nitsch, a man revered and reviled in equal measure, is not for the faint of heart.

“Since the 1960s, the Austrian artist has been staging pagan rituals replete with animal sacrifice, the battering of animal corpses, the splattering of animal blood, mock crucifixions and nudity.”

And this weekend, an organisation called Tempting Failure, is bringing Nitsch’s work to the Braithwaite Hall and David Lean Cinema.

Tempting Failure says, “A founder of the short-lived and yet continually relevant, shocking, and infamously impactful, Viennese Actionists, Hermann Nitsch’s influence continues to touch all of performance art still today. His Orgien Mysterien Theater aktions often involve slaughter, butchery, religious sacrifices, crucifixion, as well as noise, dance, celebration, ritual and rapture.

“The viewing experience on film is no less impactful and creates beautifully shocking imagery that holds its audience in a world full of question and wonder.”

And they add: “Each aktion will be screened only once; shown in full and uncut.” Tickets are available for over-18s only.

Members of the David Lean Cineman campaign can get tickets half-price, using a code sent to them in their member email newsletter.

The shows in the David Lean Cinema and the Braithwaite Hall are on Sunday July 15 from noon to 10pm (bit of a clash with the World Cup final, which may offer its own slaughter, butchery, noise, dance, celebration, ritual and, perhaps, some rapture), and from noon to 10pm on Monday, July 16.

More details on the Tempting Failure website, where you can also book tickets.


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