MANTUA - PALAZZO DUCALE MUSEUM COMPLEX
Hermann Nitsch / KATHARSIS

On display at Palazzo Ducale Museum Complex of Mantua a core of artworks by Hermann Nitsch that exhibits to the general public the dramaturgical and artistic experimentation of the great Viennese actionist.

The collaboration between Moz-Art, Atelier Hermann Nitsch, Nitsch Foundation of Vienna and Palazzo Ducale Museum Complex of Mantua, with the support of BoxartGallery of Verona, has produced an extraordinary opportunity for the Italian public: the chance of looking at, inside the prestigious setting of the Mantua Gonzaga Palace, a representative core of art pieces of the o.m. theater (Orgien Mysterien Theater) by Hermann Nitsch, that offers a powerful and comprehensive vision of the artist’s work. 
An experience in dialogue between contemporary art and the artistic precious treasures of the past preserved inside Sale di Guastalla, in the medieval Palazzo del Capitano, Palazzo Ducale Museum Complex of Mantua.

The exhibition fits wisely in rooms of the medieval culture, inside the 14th-century rare architecture. Especially the artwork Last Supper (1979-1983) by Hermann Nitsch, inspired by the quest for the Holy Grail, will be exhibited in the ex-chapel of Guastalla into direct dialogue with the famous fresco of the Crucifixion. The spirituality of Nitsch’s work, with references to the Greek theater (“...the starting point of my art has always been the theater, and particularly the Greek tragedy”), is linked to the long history of Christian iconography. Hence the title Katharsis that takes form within the realm of the cultural history of mankind, reaching the viewer with its power and through the language of contemporary art.

The main focus of the exhibition, curated by Peter Assmann, Director of Palazzo Ducale Museum Complex of Mantua, together with Beatrice Benedetti, Artistic Director of Boxart Gallery in Verona, Sergio Pajola and Giuliano Vallani from the Cultural Association Moz-Art of Mantua, is the significance and the necessity for direct experience gained through the participation to the dramatic event, that generates the Katharsis of the title. 
At the same time the exhibit focuses on the single elements of the Viennese actionist’s work– especially the painting and the drawings but also the music and literature – that are subordinate to the dramatic and performative event at the foundation of Nitsch’s poetics.

“In summary Hermann Nitsch’s work – sums up the co-curator Beatrice Benedetti – is nothing other than what declared by the three letters OMT: a new form of theatre that represents life without the use of words.