Indianer, Toreros und Nachteulen — Die Neuen Wilden im Berlin der 80er Jahre

40 years after the Zeitgeist exhibition of 1982 with its focus on painting, especially "Heftige Malerei" (ferocious painting), held at the Martin-Gropius-Bau—which at the time was located right next to the Berlin Wall and had only just been provisionally renovated—the exhibition at the Galerie Deschler compellingly recalls Berlin's vibrant art scene of the 1980s. Rainer Fetting, Salomé and Helmut Middendorf all participated in the Zeitgeist exhibition. They had also been among the co-founders of the Galerie am Moritzplatz, as was Bernd Zimmer, and part of the Berlin "Neue Wilde" group of artists (also known as "Junge Wilde"). With their large-format paintings executed in strong colors and gestural brushstrokes they flaunted an unfettered vitality and punk attitude in their revolt against the Conceptual Art and Minimalism dominant at the time. Swiss artist Luciano Castelli was also part of that group, creating joint paintings with Rainer Fetting and Salomé, and together with Salomé founding the eccentric punk band "Geile Tiere" (horny animals) at the Berlin Club Dschungel. The male dominance within the group—also known as the "Moritzboys"—was set off by Elvira Bach's paintings with their strong emphasis on femininity. 1982 was also a seminal year for Bach given that she had her international breakthrough at the documenta 7 in Kassel (as did Salomé and Castelli).