Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s

Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s is an extensive survey of experimental art made in six Central-Eastern European nations between the 1960s and 1980s. Including both rarely seen and newly reconstructed works, the exhibition weaves together a complex story of artists questioning how, when and where art could exist, and exploring the varied meanings it might hold for society. Despite their geographical proximity, the artists featured in the exhibition encountered different conditions for daily life and artmaking, as they confronted varying degrees of control and pressure exerted by state authorities. Charting a generation invested in experimentation, Multiple Realities sheds light on ways that artists refused, circumvented, eluded and subverted official systems. Often infused with wit and irony, the works on view demonstrate both conceptual and formal innovation, often underpinned with an unfettered spirit of adventurousness.

Drawing on visual art, performance, music and material culture, this interdisciplinary exhibition brings together works by nearly 100 artists from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. While it presents select canonical figures from the region, Multiple Realities places additional emphasis on lesser-known practitioners, particularly women artists, artist collectives and those exploring embodiment through an LGBTQIA+ lens. Though rooted in the recent past, the exhibition’s themes resonate today, foregrounding the question of the relationship between art and politics, and the roles that institutions play in society. How do artists negotiate their daily lives, in which authority and power are made manifest through control and surveillance? What can we learn from the production, circulation and reception of art outside of capitalist economies, and how did restrictions imposed by authoritarian regimes inform artist practices?

Featured artists include: Milan Adamčiak, Autoperformationsartisten (Micha Brendel, Else Gabriel, Rainer Görß and Via Lewandowsky), AWACS (Piotr Grzybowski and Maciej Toporowicz), István Bakos, Lubomír Beneš, A.E. Bizottság, Vladimir Bonačić, Geta Brătescu, Adina Caloenescu, Zdeňka Čechová, Věra Chytilová, Lutz Dammbeck, Jan Dobkowski, Orshi Drozdik, Ľubomír Ďurček, Sherban Epuré, Barbara Falender, Lászlo Fehér, Stano Filko, Vera Fischer, Henryk Gajewski and Piotr Rypson, AG. Geige, Teresa Gierzyńska, Karpo Godina, Tomislav Gotovac, Ion Grigorescu, Wiktor Gutt and Waldemar Raniszewski, Gino Hahnemann, Heino Hilger, Károly Hopp-Halász, János Istvánfy, Sanja Iveković, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Željko Jerman, Krzysztof Jung, György Kemény, Eva Kmentová, Milan Knížák / AKTUAL Group, Július Koller, Gyula Konkoly, Jiří Kovanda, György Kovásznai, Jarosław Kozłowski, Kryzys, Katalin Ladik, Matei Lăzărescu, Natalia LL, Ana Lupaş, Jolanta Marcolla, Dóra Maurer, Florin Maxa, Simon Menner, Tomislav Mikulić, Karel Miler, Andrzej Mitan, Jan Mlčoch, Teresa Murak, Krzysztof Niemczyk, Kolomon Novak, Ewa Partum, Plastic People of the Universe, Krystyna Piotrowska, Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Polish Radio Experimental Studio, Karol Radziszewski/Queer Archives Institute, Józef Robakowski and Eugeniusz Rudnik, Jerzy Rosołowicz, Akademia Ruchu, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Jan Ságl, Bogusław Schaeffer, Cornelia Schleime, Tomasz Sikorski, Jan Slávik and Ladislav Halada, Gabriele Stötzer, Aleksandar Srnec, Zdenek Sýkora, Alina Szapocznikow, Kálmán Szijártó, Bálint Szombathy, Peter Štembera, Janina Tworek-Pierzgalska, Teresa Tyszkiewicz, Zsuzsi Ujj, Andrzej Urbanowicz, Miha Vipotnik, Jürgen Wittdorf, Krzysztof Wodiczko and Jana Želibská.