With their radical actions emphasising the performative body, Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch,

Otto Muehl and Rudolf Schwarzkogler played a major role in this paradigm shift during the decisive 1960s. From 1960 onwards, these artists underwent a process in which the painted image was subjected to a ‘trial by fire’ in the truest sense of the word. Representation was replaced in art objects and, above all, in actions by a vehement turn towards values that could be perceived directly by the senses.