Erich-Wolfgang Hartzsch

Zweite Haut
Francisco Carolinum Linz

“I’m Standing on My Head.”—Erich-Wolfgang Hartzsch

Eccentric—dissident—leader of an artistic countermovement: Erich-Wolfgang Hartzsch (b. Chemnitz, 1952; lives and works in Chemnitz) ranks among the most influential exponents of East Germany’s oppositional and nonconformist arts scene. He studied painting and graphic art in Chemnitz, was a member of the music group Kartoffelschälmaschine, and took part in numerous actions and performances that were viewed with suspicion by the regime. His wide-ranging inter- and multimedia oeuvre encompasses paintings and fine art prints, sculptures and other works of plastic art, drawings and collages, photographs and films, as well as poetry and musical experiments.

The publication accompanying the exhibition Second Skin at the Francisco Carolinum Linz presents a comprehensive survey of Hartzsch’s work in photography and film. The richly illustrated first complete catalogue of his output between 1979 and 1990 is introduced by personal remarks by the artist.