In the late 1970s to early 1980s, young artists everywhere responded to the highly theory-driven artistic stances and debates of the 1970s with a bold and carefree style of painting geared to the predominant zeitgeist. The representatives of the so-called In the late 1970s to early 1980s, young artists everywhere responded to the highly theory-driven artistic stances and debates of the 1970s with a bold and carefree style of painting geared to the predominant zeitgeist. The representatives of the so-called Neue Wilde (New Wild) were often art students whose brazenly expressive and gestural paintings were produced fast, based on gut feeling rather than theoryIn the late 1970s to early 1980s, young artists everywhere responded to the highly theory-driven artistic stances and debates of the 1970s with a bold and carefree style of painting geared to the predominant zeitgeist. The representatives of the so-called Neue Wilde (New Wild) were often art students whose brazenly expressive and gestural paintings were produced fast, based on gut feeling rather than theory. The subsequent hype among international collectors finally collapsed in the mid-1980s, resulting in severe artistic crises, particularly for some of the German representatives of the style. In Austria, the situation was more differentiated, since the country had enjoyed a much more uninterrupted painting tradition, and abstraction was always an option even for the “young wild”, otherwise almost exclusively devoted to figuration at the international level. Unlike the Essl Museum’s 2004 exhibition Neue Wilde – Eine Entwicklung, which focused on the artistic development of the style’s proponents at the time, the current exhibition is entirely dedicated to the bold works produced in the 1980s, driven by a fast and furious painting style. Although rarely displayed, these works still hold excitement for contemporary viewers due to their formal and compositional audacity and the great immediacy of the brushwork.Works by Siegfried Anzinger, Erwin Bohatsch, Gunter Damisch, Herbert Brandl, Alois Mosbacher, Hubert Scheibl, Hubert Schmalix, Otto ZitkoCurator: Viktoria Tomek18.03. – 31.05.2015Opening: 17.03.2015 ESSL MUSEUMContemporary ArtAn der Donau-Au 13400 Klosterneuburg / ViennaT: +43-(0)2243-370 50 150E: info@essl.museumTUE-SUN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.WED: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.Monday closed,except on national holidays.
