Utopia Matters: From Brotherhoods to Bauhaus / Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin

The Deutsche Guggenheim celebrates its 50th exhibition with a show that is dedicated to utopia as an inspiration for artistic creation and as a living model for artist collectives. The exhibition is titled “Utopia Matters: From Brotherhoods to Bauhaus” and brings together exceptional and rarely shown works by artists such as Kandinsky, Klee, and Mondrian. Utopia Matters introduces a selection of international artist communities. Through nine movements spanning 130 years many of the forms utopian artistic groups can assume are explored: the Primitifs, the Nazarenes, the Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris and Arts and Crafts, the Cornish Art Colony, Neo-Impressionism, De Stijl, the Bauhaus, and Russian Constructivism.

In this video, Vivien Greene, Curator of 19th- and Early-20th-Century Art at the Guggenheim Museum and curator of “Utopia Matters” talks about her motivation to conceive this exhibition, the reason why utopian groups flourished throughout the 19th century, and contemporary movements with utopian aspirations.

Utopia Matters at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin runs through April 11, 2010. The exhibition is accompanied by the Youtopic workshop. Together with professors Hans Höger and Dominik Harborth and designer Alin Köhler, students have developed interactive objects with which visitors to the exhibition can experiment. In addition, Chinese artist Cao Fei has created a multi-media installation for the Deutsche Guggenheim, a new version of her RMB City internet-based project, and Luca Buvoli has installed a banner on the façade of the exhibition hall.

More information on the topic and a conversation between Susan Cross, Curator at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, and Vivien Greene, Curator of 19th- and Early-20th-Century Art at the Guggenheim Museum and curator of “Utopia Matters: From Brotherhoods to Bauhaus” can be found on DB Artmag. The supporting program includes lectures, guided tours and special events such as a talk with Patrik Schumacher / Zaha Hadid Architects on February 9, 2010.

Utopia Matters: From Brotherhoods to Bauhaus / Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin. Interview with curator Vivien Greene. January 22, 2010.

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