The Coup of the Blameless Men – G.R.A.M.

Alongside other projects such as Paparazzi (Fotohof edition 2009) the Austrian group of artists known as G.R.A.M. has been restaging existing image worlds since 1998. G.R.A.M. directs the viewer’s gaze at the function of the images, the politics of the visible. The satirising repetition of mass media images branded into our perception examines the conventional media production mechanisms of reality. Under the title Der Coup der tadellosen Männer [The coup of blameless men] G.R.A.M. uses new re-enactments to recreate situations which seem very different at first sight: politicians shortly before or after an official photo shoot; dancing soldiers; bodyguards quaintly standing in the rain; parliamentarians who have nodded off; the first photo of two popes; footballers stacking their bodies up into pyramids as they celebrate; and lots more.

G.R.A.M. was founded in 1987 by Günther Holler-Schuster (*1963), Ronald Walter (*1962), Armin Ranner (*1964) and Martin Behr (*1964). They live and work in Graz und Linz, Austria. For the last fifteen years Günther Holler-Schuster and Martin Behr have largely shaped G.R.A.M., while the other two members have left the group due to occupational opportunities.