Günter Brus

Born in Austria, Günter Brus was one of the co-founders of the Vienna based movement "Wiener Aktionismus."  This in my mind was the first real rise of action art, sort of like DADA, action art was (is) a protest against traditional art and the boundaries that were being placed upon personal expressionism within the state. To this day action art has mostly become stale and dry, something that should not be permitted to continue. Why? Because action art is a protest against what is allowed, what is accepted and permitted in the modern day. Today we have democracy and pseudo 'freedom' of speech. Basically you can scribble with some pens on a card, call it art, and some snob will look over it during a wine and cheese tasting and think 'how unique, what expression of the soul this artist has, what disdain for society... blah blah' Our modern world has no place for expressionist art, because there really isn't a whole lot to protest in this particular medium. If you were to go somewhere else, where things are much harder and you have no voice to speak, perhaps there would be a better place for it.

The actions that Brus took were not things I openly advocate to anyone, in fact I think they are symbols of mental disturbance and actions which I personally do not condone and would prefer not to see repeated. However I think it is interesting that individuals like this exist and express themselves in the way that they do in the name of 'art.'
Brus spent 6 months in prison after a performance named "Kunst und Revolution." He used his own bodily matter as his medium as an expression of his contempt for the political workings of his state. He ended the preformance by vomiting and his arrest.
He was awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1997, and the majority of his art is still considered controversial or uncomfortable to witness. His actual 'action art' that is preformed is not something I am necessarily fond of, however some of the photographs and ink drawings produced by Brus really intrigue me as far as expressionism goes, sometimes I feel like I could say "I know how that feels." I think that people like Brus have a way of expressing the intense despair a human being can experience, the mental instability, the endlessness of depression, angst, fear, the downward spiral, self loathing and finally, self destruction.
He expresses it perfectly through symbolism and juxtaposition of those symbols within the featured body.
It's people like this who I'd like to witness. I don't know what I think about them as human individuals, there is something wrong most definitely. I wish I could open up his head and understand his mind.