Copyright 2000 www.cosmopolis.ch Louis Gerber All rights
reserved.
50 years of art in Central Europe 1949-1999
The exhibition 50 Years Of Art In Central Europe 1949-1999 is on
display at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest until May 28, 2000. It shows some
200 works of artists from FR Yugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia,
Slovenia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Austria, Poland, the Slovak
Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The period 1949-1999 includes countries of the Soviet
Block, neutral Austria, Tito's Yugoslavia that was at odds with the
Soviet Block as well as a decade of art in post-communist countries.
Therefore, the topos Central Europe does not refer to political categories
such as communist or post-communist art, art in democracy and art in
dictatorships. Lórand Hegyi explains that the Central European Societies
could never create clear identity models. Central Europe is for him the
region of frustration, creative chaos and multi-identity which at the same
time is not accepted without problems.
Erzsébet Schaár: In Front Of And Behind The Wall,
1968.
Photograph: exhibition catalogue.
Marina Grzinic and Aina Smid:
Postsocialism - Retroavantgarde - Irwin,
1997.
Video-Still: exhibition catalogue.
A look at the exhibition shows an enormous diversity of artistic
expression. There is no such thing as "The Central European Art"
or "The Central European Style". On the contrary, what strikes
the visitor and reader of the catalogues is the multitude of artistic
approaches and styles.
The exhibition concept was created by Lóránd
Hegyi in collaboration with the curators of the different countries. The
catalogue in two volumes is divided in a section containing the
photographs of the exhibited works, completed by short biographies of the
artists, and a theoretical section, analyzing the historic and artistic
developments in the different countries of the Central European region
between 1949 and 1999. The 30 essays are written by 30 different
specialists.
50 Years Of Art In Central Europe 1949-1999 was
first exhibited at the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna. Until May 28,
2000 it is on
display at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest. In September and October 2000 it
will be shown at the Fundació
Miró in Barcelona, from November 7, 2000 until January 6, 2001 at the Hansard Gallery/City Gallery
in Southampton and from February 12, 2001 until April 2001 at the National Gallery in Prague.
