background

of the term PAINTING AS AN EVENT [MALEREI ALS EREIGNIS]
The term 'Painting as an Event' (Synonym of 'Malerei als Ereignis') was coined by the American critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952, who wrote the manifesto for 'Action Painting', as he called it in his unforgettable article for ARTnews 51, S. 22 f.: ..."Titled The Tradition of the New, he defined the canvas and the painting as an event of its own making, the arena for the action through the act of improvisation, making it up as the artist goes, working spontaneously and then discovering what has been done”... Action Painting became by Jackson Pollock an international renown.
The term Painting as an Event used Harold Rosenberg for the description of the artwork Girl before a Mirror, 1932 of Pablo Picasso too: "This mid-life painting by Picasso, while made before Abstract Expressionism or Action Painting were ever part of our vocabulary, is an apt example of painting as an event..."
The term 'Malerei als Ereignis' was coined by the German critic Prof. Dr. Michael Klant about 50 years later within the scope of a cinematic journey through process-oriented art - by displaying the formation of the work process – next Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock with six further major contemporary artists.
The Painting as an Event of Barbara Heinisch is a transdisciplinary Process Painting (in the studio and in public), wherein the figurative elements of expressionism connect with the movement tracks of informel.
Since 1983 Barbara Heinisch has mediated her process painting with teaching as visiting professor in various universities and academies of arts (last at the European Academy of Fine Arts, Trier) as in workshops.

THE EIGHT MAJOR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS OF PAINTING AS AN EVENT | MALEREI ALS EREIGNIS

  • Jackson Pollock *28.01.1912 †11.08.1956
  • Pablo Picasso *25.10.1881 †08.04.1973

  • Yves Klein *28.04.1928 †06.06.1962
  • Keith Haring *04.05.1958 †16.02.1990
  • Niki de Saint Phalle *29.10.1930 †21.05.2002
  • Maria Lassnig *09.09.1919 †06.05.2014
  • Karl Otto Götz *22.02.1914 †19.08.2017
  • Barbara Heinisch *16.07.1944