Jørgen Nash
Encyclopedia
Jørgen Nash was a Danish
artist, writer and central proponent of situationism. He was born in Vejrum, Jutland
, Denmark, baptized Jørgen Axel Jørgensen, the brother of Asger Jorn
. He later changed his family name from Jørgensen to Nash. He was married three times and has six children. His last marriage was with the painter Lis Zwick and would last until his death in 2004. The last 40 years of his life he lived in the artist collective Drakabygget outside Örkelljunga
, Sweden
.
From 1948 to 1951 he was involved with CoBrA
. He went on to join the Situationist International (SI).
In 1959 he produced Stavrim, Sonetter a book of poetry illustrated by Jorn.
In 1960 he founded the Situationist Bauhaus based at the farm Drakabygget with Jorn.
He is the editor of Drakabygget, a journal about art and social philosophy.
In 1963 became an honorary artist of the Royal Danish Academy of Art
.
He has exhibited at:
be the only opposer. Nash rebuked those responsible for Spur, was initially in favor of them publishing a retraction, but stopped short of demanding an exclusion. After a debate on this subject, however, Nash decided on the option of exclusion. Kunzelmann too, the only opposing vote, and himself part of Spur, expressed his approval of all the Central Council's critiques towards the other Spur members.
In Sweden, on March 1962, Jörgen Nash suddenly attacked the SI in the name of the Scandinavian section, with the tract Danger! Do Not Lean Out, and planned to convert the section in another Swedish "Bauhaus". Reckoning on the considerable geographical dispersion of the Scandinavian situationists, Nash had not even consulted with all of them before his putsch. Surprised at not being unanimously followed and at finding himself countered on the spot by the partisans of the SI majority — J.V. Martin, who immediately circulated a definitive repudiation of his imposture — Nash at first feigned astonishment that things had gone to the point of a complete break with the situationists; as if the fact of launching a public surprise attack full of lies was compatible with carrying on a dialogue, on the basis of some sort of Nashist Scandinavian autonomy.
According to the SI, Nash's main goal was to use the seal of "situationism" to attract a few highly profitable art dealers. The SI stated that this was confirmed by the fact that Nash's new Swedish “Bauhaus,” which consisted of two or three Scandinavian ex-situationists plus "a mass of unknowns flocking to the feast," immediately plunged into "the most shopworn forms of artistic production". According to the SI, the development of this conspiracy was no doubt precipitated by the recent elimination of the SI's right wing, the Spur group, on whose support the Nashists had relied.
In the tract Danger! Do Not Lean Out, Nash, with Ansgar Elde
and Jacqueline de Jong
, stated that although there may be grounds to criticise the Spur group (Ervin Eisch, Lothar Fischer
, Dieter Kunzelmann
, Renee Nele
, Heimrad Prem
, Gretel Stadler, Helmut Sturm
and Hand-Peter Zimmer), the way they had been expelled, and the SI itself, were totalitarian. However, the decision followed a debate and was voted by the majority 5 to 1, with Nash also voting in favor of it. Nash also implied that Ansgar Elde was present at the Council and that Jacqueline de Jong was part of if, which was false. The SI, at the behest of Jeppesen Victor Martin, described those they had expelled as nashists.
On 24 April 1964 Nash with other members of Bauhaus Situationniste decapitated the statue of The Little Mermaid
in Copenhagen
harbour. This manifestation was part of the movements campaign against consumerist society.
Following his exclusion he became involved in the Second Situationist International
and the creation in 1974 of the Situationist Antinational
.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
artist, writer and central proponent of situationism. He was born in Vejrum, Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, Denmark, baptized Jørgen Axel Jørgensen, the brother of Asger Jorn
Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International...
. He later changed his family name from Jørgensen to Nash. He was married three times and has six children. His last marriage was with the painter Lis Zwick and would last until his death in 2004. The last 40 years of his life he lived in the artist collective Drakabygget outside Örkelljunga
Örkelljunga
Örkelljunga is a locality and the seat of Örkelljunga Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 4,574 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
From 1948 to 1951 he was involved with CoBrA
COBRA (avant-garde movement)
COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen , Brussels , Amsterdam .-History:...
. He went on to join the Situationist International (SI).
In 1959 he produced Stavrim, Sonetter a book of poetry illustrated by Jorn.
In 1960 he founded the Situationist Bauhaus based at the farm Drakabygget with Jorn.
He is the editor of Drakabygget, a journal about art and social philosophy.
In 1963 became an honorary artist of the Royal Danish Academy of Art
Royal Danish Academy of Art
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts has provided a practice-oriented complement to the scholarly investigation of the arts carried out at Danish universities for more than 250 years, playing a crucial part in the development of the distinctive tradition of the art of Denmark.- History :The Royal...
.
He has exhibited at:
- Galerias del Palacio de Belles Artes, Mexico City
- Kobe Art Museum, Kobe, Japan
- Museum of Modern Art New York
- Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm
- National Museum of Modern Art, TokyoNational Museum of Modern Art, TokyoThe in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting contemporary Japanese art.This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT...
- Museum de Art Moderno, Mexico City
- Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo
- Malmo Museum, Sweden
- The Modern Art Gallery Silkeborg, Denmark
- Museo Carillo Gil, Mexico City
- Klingspor-Museum, Offenbach am Main, Germany
- Yokohama City Art Hall, Yokohama, Japan
- Tessin Institute, Paris
- Museo National de Belles Artes and Centro Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
- Skissernas Museum, Lund, Sweden
- Kongelige Kobberstiksamling, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Centre Pompidou, Paris
- Royal Academi of Art, Stockholm
- Museu Dárt Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain
Exclusion from the SI
On February 10, 1962, Nash voted with the majority of the Central Council of the Situationist International, for the exclusion of the Spur group. The majority was 5 to 1, with Dieter KunzelmannDieter Kunzelmann
Dieter Kunzelmann is a German left-wing activist. In the early 1960s he was a member of the Situationist-inspired artists' group Gruppe SPUR. He was one of the founders of Kommune 1 in 1967. At the end of the 1960s he was one of the leaders of the Tupamaros West-Berlin, which carried out...
be the only opposer. Nash rebuked those responsible for Spur, was initially in favor of them publishing a retraction, but stopped short of demanding an exclusion. After a debate on this subject, however, Nash decided on the option of exclusion. Kunzelmann too, the only opposing vote, and himself part of Spur, expressed his approval of all the Central Council's critiques towards the other Spur members.
In Sweden, on March 1962, Jörgen Nash suddenly attacked the SI in the name of the Scandinavian section, with the tract Danger! Do Not Lean Out, and planned to convert the section in another Swedish "Bauhaus". Reckoning on the considerable geographical dispersion of the Scandinavian situationists, Nash had not even consulted with all of them before his putsch. Surprised at not being unanimously followed and at finding himself countered on the spot by the partisans of the SI majority — J.V. Martin, who immediately circulated a definitive repudiation of his imposture — Nash at first feigned astonishment that things had gone to the point of a complete break with the situationists; as if the fact of launching a public surprise attack full of lies was compatible with carrying on a dialogue, on the basis of some sort of Nashist Scandinavian autonomy.
According to the SI, Nash's main goal was to use the seal of "situationism" to attract a few highly profitable art dealers. The SI stated that this was confirmed by the fact that Nash's new Swedish “Bauhaus,” which consisted of two or three Scandinavian ex-situationists plus "a mass of unknowns flocking to the feast," immediately plunged into "the most shopworn forms of artistic production". According to the SI, the development of this conspiracy was no doubt precipitated by the recent elimination of the SI's right wing, the Spur group, on whose support the Nashists had relied.
In the tract Danger! Do Not Lean Out, Nash, with Ansgar Elde
Ansgar Elde
Ansgar Elde was a Swedish artist famous for his work in ceramics.Elde was a member of the Situationist International . On March 15, 1962 Elde was excluded from the SI along with Jørgen Nash. Both had been on the central committee and were accused of conspiring with certain art collectors...
and Jacqueline de Jong
Jacqueline de Jong
Jacqueline de Jong was born in the Dutch town of Hengelo to Jewish parents. Faced with the German invasion, they went into hiding. After an abortive escape attempt to England, her father Hans remained in Amsterdam while she and her mother made for Switzerland...
, stated that although there may be grounds to criticise the Spur group (Ervin Eisch, Lothar Fischer
Lothar Fischer
Lothar Fischer was a German sculptor.He was born in Germersheim, Palatinate. Between 1952 and 1958 he studied under Professor Heinrich Kirchner at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich...
, Dieter Kunzelmann
Dieter Kunzelmann
Dieter Kunzelmann is a German left-wing activist. In the early 1960s he was a member of the Situationist-inspired artists' group Gruppe SPUR. He was one of the founders of Kommune 1 in 1967. At the end of the 1960s he was one of the leaders of the Tupamaros West-Berlin, which carried out...
, Renee Nele
Renee Nele
E. R. Nele is a German sculptor famous for goldsmithing and large scale metal sculptures.She was born in Berlin, the daughter of Marie-Louise and Arnold Bode . She started her career in 1950 as a student of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. She participated in Documenta II,...
, Heimrad Prem
Heimrad Prem
Heimrad Prem was a German painter born in Roding, Oberpfalz. From 1949 - 1952 he studied decorative painting at Schwandorf and then studied painting with Josef Oberberger and sculpture with Toni Stadler at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich until 1956...
, Gretel Stadler, Helmut Sturm
Helmut Sturm
Helmut Sturm was a German painter.He was born in Furth im Wald. From 1952 to 1958 he studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich. After this he joined Heimrad Prem, Lothar Fischer and Hans-Peter Zimmer in founding Gruppe SPUR, which in 1959 entered the Situationist International...
and Hand-Peter Zimmer), the way they had been expelled, and the SI itself, were totalitarian. However, the decision followed a debate and was voted by the majority 5 to 1, with Nash also voting in favor of it. Nash also implied that Ansgar Elde was present at the Council and that Jacqueline de Jong was part of if, which was false. The SI, at the behest of Jeppesen Victor Martin, described those they had expelled as nashists.
On 24 April 1964 Nash with other members of Bauhaus Situationniste decapitated the statue of The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (statue)
The statue of The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the harbour of the capital of Denmark. Based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction....
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
harbour. This manifestation was part of the movements campaign against consumerist society.
Following his exclusion he became involved in the Second Situationist International
Second Situationist International
Jørgen Nash identifies the first manifestation of the Second Situationist International after it broke away from the Situationist International as a leaflet signed by himself along with Jacqueline de Jong and Ansgar Elde, shortly after the group Seven Rebels was formed at Situationist Bauhaus at...
and the creation in 1974 of the Situationist Antinational
Situationist Antinational
The Situationist Antinational was an American magazine formed in 1974, two years after the disbanding of the Situationist International. Only one issue of the magazine was published...
.