Europe

Artistic Trends from Both Sides of the Great Divide

An exhibition featuring works of art from the post-World War II period has opened in Brussels

July 06th, 2016
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From the 24 June to the 25 September 2016, the exhibition Facing the Future: Art in Europe 1945-68 will run at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (commonly known as BOZAR) in Brussels. The exhibition features over 160 works of art created by artists from both sides of the Iron Curtain between the years 1945 and 1968.

The purpose of this exhibition is to highlight the artistic trends which were at work in both Western and Eastern Europe in the years post-World War II. At one time, it was believed that there was little artistic crossover between the two sides of the political and physical divide, however, this exhibition demonstrates that “Europe was by no means as artistically divided as had been thought and that there was actually considerable interchange between artists.”

On both sides we see the development and expansion of similar themes and trends including: “pop art, conceptual art, action art, sound art, kinetic art, and new media arts (photography, film, TV, video, and computers).”

The exhibition is divided into six chapters. Each chapter is ordered chronologically and deals with a particular concept or theme: (1) Prologue and the end of war, (2) Mourning and memory, (3) The Cold War, (4) New idealisms, (5) New realisms and (6) 1968: The end of utopias?

These different sections will help guide the visitor through the various phases and transformations which swept the artistic world from the end of the Second World War to the revolutionary year of 1968. These works of art are a testament to memory, diversity, endurance and solidarity.

As the works on display have been gathered from both public galleries and private collections from across the continent, visitors will have the unique opportunity to view them side by side in a singular space. Among the many famous works on display are Builders (1951) by Fernand Léger, Massacre in Korea (1951) by Picasso, Transporting the Sphinxes (1945) by Max Beckmann and Execution VIII (1949) by Andrzej Wróblewski.

References:

Cultural Diplomacy News
Alex Waters, CD News