Günter Brus

* 1938 in Ardning, Styria (AT)
† 2024 in Graz, Styria (AT)

Günter Brus, who nowadays calls himself a ‘poet of the picture’, became part of the Austrian art history by means of two prominent actionist performances: His body painted white and parted in two halves by a black line, he promenaded downtown Vienna in 1965. Three years later he was entitled Austria’s most disliked citizen due to daggling the lecturer‘s desk in the New Institute Building of the Vienna University in the context of his “Body Analysis”. Steadily Brus complemented his extensive actionist oeuvre with drawings and paintings. Starting with the portfolio “Irrwisch” in 1970, he developed his “Picture Poetry”, which combines literature with fine arts.