As part of the exhibition series “NITSCH. A homage by…”, the Nitsch Foundation and Ms. Rita Nitsch present ‘FROM PAIN COMES PAIN, THEN LAUGHTER’, a solo exhibition of British-born artist Joseph Sakoilsky at the Nitsch Foundation, Vienna, from June 28th to July 26th 2024. This is the third exhibition in the series that highlights works by artists profoundly influenced by Hermann Nitsch during his lifetime.
“I cannot “accomplish what I plan to do alone. I have always gathered lots of help. I’ve been thriving on a path toward total work of art, and I hope the Foundation will help me develop this school of sensual experience.”—Hermann Nitsch
Joseph Sakoilsky’s interest in the work of Herman Nitsch began in his childhood, first meeting Nitsch in 1997 at the Hermann Nitsch & The Orgies Mysteries Theatre exhibition in London, and since has followed the work and been influenced. He has attended Prinzendorf several times and taken part in actions.
Joseph Sakoilsky is exhibiting three series of works for this exhibition. Each work involves an Actionist approach. The canvases are remnants of painting actions, the residue of the self through expulsion, exhaustion, and release. The Artist turns the internal to the external. In the ‘Punch Painting’ Painting, the canvas is marked not by a brush but with his fist. In short and fast-paced actions, the colours explode onto the canvas in hues taken from historically classical images.
The exhibited pieces reveal a common thread of physical and emotional endurance. Alongside paintings, actionistic performances and sculptures will also be shown. One performance piece to be displayed is: “Expulsion”, which is “based on the banishment from the paradise of Adam and Eve. The Artist and his wife, Kata Oelschlägel, wash each other with black paint, symbolising the Fall of Man. A second performance piece, titled: ‘Carrying ‘y weight’, is the ‘result of the Artist carrying his body weight across the studio floor, each drag, collapse and pratfall recorded by black paint. “Every hum” n suffers, just some of us learn to laugh” – Josep “Sakoilsky.
The Artist encourages the viewer to discover absurd humour in which the Artist is in futile combat with the artwork. “From pain” comes pain, then laughter!”
The Nitsch Foundation was founded in 2009 to support and promote the position of the Artist Hermann Nitsch. Since the Artist’s Artist’s April 2022, the Foundation administers his work and legacy: THE ORGIES MYSTERIES THEATER. The Foundations are undertaken in close cooperation with Rita Nitsch.
Among the key tasks serving this goal are raising awareness of the intellectual superstructure of his work, publishing books and editions, organising exhibitions and lecture series, performing archival and documentation tasks, and developing the catalogue raisonné. The ongoing and cooperative pursuit of these tasks is the principle guiding the activities of the Nitsch Foundation.
Regarding its self-understanding, the Nitsch Foundation is an institution that performs these tasks as a registered association to realise the goals defined in the mission statement. The Foundation comprises the association’s bodies, management, and an international advisory board.
Joseph Sakoilsky, born in 1992 in Camden Town, London, is an Actionist painter and sculptor currently residing and working in Vienna. He studied Graphic Design and Illustration at the University of East London and worked as an artist assistant for various established English artists. The Artist is associated with Post-Radical Actionism. Joseph Sakoilsky is characterised by his grotesque, humorous approach towards life, encouraging the viewer to discover the absurdity and self-irony in their human existence.
NITSCH. A Homage by Joseph Sakoilsky “From pain comes pain, then laughter” June 28th – July 26th 2024
Selected exhibitions by Joseph Sakoilsky:
2023 – November – Dream on, Other Island, Vienna
2023 – October – 150 Jahre, Büro Weltausstellung, Vienna
2023 – September – Parallel Vienna
2023 – August – Common ground, Palais Jåger-Mautner, Vienna
2023 – February – 1.5%, Plain Art Gallery, Vienna
2020 – February – Kunst the Clown and Friends, Gallery 46, London
2020 – March – Nothing is Square pt.II, Cultivate Gallery, London
2019 – March – Miniscule Part 2, Cross Lane Projects, England
2019 – May – Miniscule Venice, Venice Biennale, Venice
2019 – April – Over and Over, Cultivate Gallery, London
2019 – February – Attract, Cultivate Gallery, London
2018 – October – PURE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CLEAN, Angus Hughes Gallery, London
2018 – October – Protocol, Q-park, London
2018 – This Is The Gate of Heaven, Gallery 46, London
2018 – March – The Owlman Cometh – Vout-O- Reenees, London
2018 – February – Embracing the Underdog, Q-park, London
2017 – October – The Crash, Q-park, London
2017 – January – Chinese OPEN: Le Coq Artistes, Q-park, London
2016 – December – BIG DEAL NO 7 – SPACE, London
2015 – October – The Matchbox Project, The Other Art Fair