24.05.2024 – 27.10.2024
His business card, which he passed on in the mid-1990s for presentation and remembrance, was striking and provocative: “Painter, draughtsman, actionist, necromancer, arsehole” was written on it.
Born in Graz, Janz Franz was socialised in the Styrian capital in the 1960s, when a local rock scene was established, steirischer herbst was founded and the Forum Stadtpark had its legendary time. Although he only devoted himself to art years later, this period of Graz (sub)culture had a significant influence on him.
The music of his youth, the songs of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, were the soundtrack for his art and find their way into his paintings in numerous allusions and quotations.
His encounter with Hermann Nitsch at the “International Summer Academy of Fine Arts” in Salzburg in 1991 was an initial spark. Janz Franz adopted Nitsch’s actionist impetus and spontaneous, expressive gestures in his painting, and the resulting demon and whore paintings became important blocks of work.
The exhibition at the Neue Galerie Graz is the first institutional retrospective of the exiled Styrian’s work.
Janz Franz – A matter of survival
24.05.2024 – 27.10.2024
Neue Galerie Graz
Joanneumsviertel
8010 Graz
www.neuegaleriegraz.at
