OSTLICHT at PHOTO LONDON 2023 

Vienna Actionism emerged in reaction to the conservative political and cultural climate in post-war Austria. Its provocative actions were challenging the traditional concept of art as well as conventional values. They were critical of the idea of representation and pursued the utopia of changing psycho-social structures of society through art. In contrast to the abstract tendencies of post-war art, the Actionists focused themselves on artistic practices that confronted reality, involving real bodies, objects and substances in space and time. Photography – carried out by commissioned photographers – played an essential role. 

OstLicht presents works by Rudolf Schwarzkogler and Günter Brus. Both artists used photography not only as a medium to document performances for an audience, but rather to create independent images, that were staged exclusively for the camera. 

OstLicht exhibits works by these two prominent representatives of Austrian Avantgarde of the 1960s alongside works by the contemporary Italian artist Francesca Catastini. Together with her, OstLicht conceived this dialogue between two different eras and pictorial languages especially for the presentation at Photo London. Aware of historical and cultural differences, Catastini sets out to find references and connections to one of the most radical artistic movements of the twentieth century. Interested in the methods of combining, in order to transcend the idea of separation and to find possible analogies, she puts her works in conversation with those by Günter Brus und Rudolf Schwarzkogler. The dialogue goes beyond visual similarities. Her images, subtly designed and built with exquisite clarity, open up new possible relations.