Archivio Conz

Wolfgang Träger( 1957) is a German photographer, widely recognized for his extensive documentation of the Fluxus movement. Since the 1990s, he has photographed numerous Fluxus artists during performances and events, creating a valuable visual record of this avant-garde art movement. His photography includes portraits and performance images of key Fluxus figures such as Ay-O, Ben Patterson, Alison Knowles, and Emmett Williams. His works are featured in various collections and archives, including the Fondazione Bonotto, which preserves significant Fluxus-related materials. By the 1970s, new avant-garde movements such as conceptual art and land art gained prominence, yet Fluxus remained an active and evolving force. Its imaginative and unconventional events continued to engage audiences and inspire artists, ensuring that the movement never faded. However, what unfolded between the 1980s and early 2000s, before Fluxus artists were celebrated with major retrospectives marking its 50th anniversary. These exhibitions included Yoko Ono at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2013), Ben Vautier at Museum Tinguely in Basel (2015), Carolee Schneemann at Museum der Moderne in Salzburg (2015), and Ben Patterson at documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens (2017). Wolfgang Träger, a longtime photographer for Kunstforum International since 1990, meticulously documented Fluxus activities throughout this period. He captured performances at the Venice Biennale (1990) and "Fluxus Subjectiv" in Vienna the same year. In 1992, his lens focused on the Fluxus Virus event in Cologne, featuring a performance with grilled ducks (2CVs) on a parking deck, as well as "Da Capo" in Wiesbaden. Decades later, in 2014, he continued his work by photographing the "Fluxus Medicine Show" world tour. His images, taken across Europe and the United States, offer an intimate look into performances, portraits, and candid moments of Fluxus artists—both on stage and behind the scenes are documented in his famous book “ A Fluxus Family Portrait Album” (2017) Archivio Conz holds 23 black-and-white photographs by Wolfgang Träger, capturing various Fluxus artists in portraits and performances and numerous ephemera and documents referencing his work. Träger’s photographs are not only artistically significant but also serve as historical documents that preserve the activities and personalities of the Fluxus movement. His work has contributed greatly to the understanding and preservation of this influential art movement.