PUBLICATIONS

The title of the catalogue—Im Westen Nichts Neues–Wir malen weiter (“All Quiet on the Western Front, We Keep on Painting”)—is a tongue-in-cheek anticipation of the content of this catalogue that presents the irreverent and provocatory work of five Berlin artists (by birth or adoption) of the movement of the “New Fauves” (also known in the United States as “New Image Painting,” and in Italy as the Transavanguardia), as presented in exhibitions as Kunstmuseum Luzern, Geneva’s Center of Contemporary Art, and Aachen’s Neue Galerie in 1981 and 1982. The artists are Luciano Castelli, Rainer Fetting, Helmut Middendorf, Salomeì, and Bernd Zimmer; and in addition to large-format paintings, their group exhibition at the three museums also included films in Super-8 (of performances, concerts, and also experimental video works) created by other young artists working in Berlin (both amateurs and film-makers) with whom they were contemporary. Along with the painters, musicians and experimental fashion designers, they constituted the peculiarity of the interdisciplinary and highly active Berlin scene. The enormous success of the Berlin painters had nearly obscured the cultural context that in fact had given birth to the “New Fauves.” This catalogue rediscovers its value, and reveals its contents and special characteristics.

Exhibition catalogue, Kunstmuseum Luzern, October 11 - November 15, 1981 (Traveling exhibition: Geneva, Aachen). Texts: Martin Kunz, and Eberhard Roters