In 1981, the Cologne Trade-Fair centre hosted a large exhibition titled "Westkunst: Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939" (Western Art: Contemporary Art since 1939). Organized by art critic Laszlo Glozer and curator Kasper König, the Western-centric survey highlighted avant-garde art and politically charged themes of freedom and individual expression. By examining "Westkunst"'s historiographical stakes in light of the Iron Curtain division of Europe, the show is revealed as paradigmatic of the ways in which hegemonic concepts of 'Western art' and the accompanying processes of othering were fashioned in the art world. In this collective volume, "Westkunst"'s universalising claims are scrutinised by focusing on the artistic tendencies exhibited; on exhibitionary discourses and practices of decontextualisation, comparison, and appropriation; on the alleged realisation of the values of progress, freedom, and autonomy; on the enacted conceptions of temporality and the architectural devices of narrativisation; on the exhibition's blind spots and exclusions and the critical reactions it elicited. This analytic output makes fresh use of the archival materials, which are neither centralised nor systematized, with significant excerpts republished throughout the book. Seen through the lens of exhibition history, this revisiting of "Westkunst" sheds light on a broader trend of cultural conservatism that was gaining strength in the 1980s, just before the end of the Cold War, and on the start of new forms of globalisation.
In 1981, the Cologne Trade-Fair centre hosted a large exhibition titled "Westkunst: Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939" (Western Art: Contemporary Art since 1939). Organized by art critic Laszlo Glozer and curator Kasper König, the Western-centric survey highlighted avant-garde art and politically charged themes of freedom and individual expression. By examining "Westkunst"'s historiographical stakes in light of the Iron Curtain division of Europe, the show is revealed as paradigmatic of the ways in which hegemonic concepts of 'Western art' and the accompanying processes of othering were fashioned in the art world. In this collective volume, "Westkunst"'s universalising claims are scrutinised by focusing on the artistic tendencies exhibited; on exhibitionary discourses and practices of decontextualisation, comparison, and appropriation; on the alleged realisation of the values of progress, freedom, and autonomy; on the enacted conceptions of temporality and the architectural devices of narrativisation; on the exhibition's blind spots and exclusions and the critical reactions it elicited. This analytic output makes fresh use of the archival materials, which are neither centralised nor systematized, with significant excerpts republished throughout the book. Seen through the lens of exhibition history, this revisiting of "Westkunst" sheds light on a broader trend of cultural conservatism that was gaining strength in the 1980s, just before the end of the Cold War, and on the start of new forms of globalisation.
Zusammenfassung
Mathilde Arnoux Mathilde Arnoux untersucht wie zwischen Ost und West geteilte Bilderfahrungen die Geschichte der europäischen Kunstbeziehungen während des Kalten Krieges erhellen können. 2003 promovierte sie an der Université Paris IV Paris-Sorbonne zum Thema »La réception de la peinture germanique par les musées français entre 1871 et 1981«. Seit 2006 arbeitet sie als wissenschaftliche Abteilungsleiterin am Deutschen Forum für Kunstgeschichte Paris (DFK Paris). Von 2011 bis 2016 leitete sie dort das ERC-Projekt »OwnReality. Jedem seine Wirklichkeit. Der Begriff der Wirklichkeit in der bildenden Kunst in Frankreich, BRD, DDR und Polen 1960-1989«. 2017 habilitierte sie an der Université Paris Ouest Nanterre. Das vorliegende Buch ist die deutsche Übersetzung der daraus hervorgegangenen Publikation »La réalité en partage. Pour une histoire des relations artistiques entre l'Est et l'Ouest en Europe pendant la guerre froide«.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
19 - 33 Introduction (Mathilde Arnoux, Maria Bremer)34 - 73 Ungers' Column Grid and a Naked Support (Samuel Korn)74 - 93 An Exhibited Historiography of the Present (Britta Hochkirchen)94 - 139 Fabricating the Universal (Mathilde Arnoux)140 - 163 The Threshold of the West? (Kristian Handberg)164 - 197 Theatricalising History (Stefaan Vervoort)198 - 227 Curating Critique (Friederike Sigler)228 - 253 Peripheralism as a Cultural Privilege? (Andrea Bátorová)254 - 293 Notes292 - 299 Westkunst Exhibition Guide300 - 301 From the heute Section Booklet302 - 311 From the Westkunst Exhibition Handbook312 - 345 About the Installation Views (Sira Luthardt, Louisa Stank)346 - 370 Sources
