„The 1960ies: a fantastic modern“ in the MUSA Vienna reveals the spirit of a decade marked by radical upheaval, along the way the entire who’s who of Austrian art is displayed.

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Not only in politics, also in the domain of the arts the 1960ies were a decade of worldwide upheaval, the radical changes can also be retraced in the Austrian art scene of that period. At the beginning of the decade, art became in many cases more political and provocative in its statements, drawing on subjects in between the realities of the mundane and the artistic. The convergence of high culture and popular culture has its beginnings in these movements, followed by a fundamental challenge to the previous notion of art. more »

As opposed to other media like film or music, in principle, painting does not lend itself to as many possibilities, explains the painter, Thomas Reinhold. Throughout history, there have been painters who have tried to expand the range of the medium of painting time and time again. Take the case of Viennese Actionism, for which action painting or happenings—for example, fluxus art is not meant to extend the possibilities of the painting—always become something else instead.

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In the mid-seventies, Thomas Reinhold studied at the University for Applied Art in Vienna, when Actionism was still determining the current artistic climate. For many, the medium of painting was still not performative enough, hence, it only held a small part in the curriculum as opposed to other media. Reinhold was doing photography at the time. His work was successful—shown at the Graz Forum City Park as well as in art fairs in Basel and New York. more »