I saw the other side of the sun with you
April 12th 2023 – April 30th 2023
WHERE?
Cromwell Place
4 Cromwell Place,
London SW7 2JE
4 Cromwell Place,
London SW7 2JE
WHEN?
April 12th 2023 - April 30th 2023
European ArtEast FoundaBon presents world’s first survey show of female surrealists from Eastern Europe at Cromwell Place, London.
Commissioned and presented by European ArtEast Foundation, I saw the other side of the sun with you is the world’s first exhibition dedicated exclusively to female Surrealists from Eastern Europe, with the majority of the participating artists being shown for the first time in the UK.
Charting the development of Surrealism from the 1930s to its present-day revival, this exhibition will present some of the most outstanding Surrealists from Poland, the former Czechoslovakia and the former Yugoslavia and will span painting, drawing, illustration, sculpture and video works as well as an assortment of archival materials.
A contested movement in the Eastern European avant-gardes, Surrealism evolved in highly original local varieties, with Czechoslovakia initially leading the charge in close alliance with artists in Paris, the centre of the movement.
The seminal artist Toyen (1902-1980) was a defining figure in this regard, leading the identification of the painter with the poet. The aesthetic connection between poetry and painting, particularly in the form of dream writing, was shared by the Polish Surrealists Erna Rosenstein (1913-2004) and Maria Anto (1936-2007). The title of the exhibition is taken from Anto’s dream writing dating 1975 relating to her daughter Zuzia.
Polish-Jewish avant-garde painter, architect and montage artist Teresa Zarnower (1895/1897-1949) shared Toyen’s deeply felt political concerns during the war-torn years. Traumatic experiences are prevalent in the works of Polish-Jewish artists and illustrators Franciszka Themerson (1907-1988) and Erna Rosenstein (1913-2004) and in the visceral sculptures of Czech artist Eva Kmentová (1928-1980) in the 1960s and 70s.
Toyen’s trailblazing modern iconography of transgressive sexualities and haunting fantastical speculation finds recurrence in the corporeal post-war assemblage sculptures by Alina Szapozcnikow, and in the erotic paintings and illustrations of twin-sisters Alicja and Bożena Wahl (*1932, Alicja passed away in 2020) whose libertine self-expressions breathe the spirit of the sexual revolution set against the backdrop of 1970s Communist Poland.
European ArtEast FoundaBon presents world’s first survey show of female surrealists from Eastern Europe at Cromwell Place, London.
Commissioned and presented by European ArtEast Foundation, I saw the other side of the sun with you is the world’s first exhibition dedicated exclusively to female Surrealists from Eastern Europe, with the majority of the participating artists being shown for the first time in the UK.
Charting the development of Surrealism from the 1930s to its present-day revival, this exhibition will present some of the most outstanding Surrealists from Poland, the former Czechoslovakia and the former Yugoslavia and will span painting, drawing, illustration, sculpture and video works as well as an assortment of archival materials.
A contested movement in the Eastern European avant-gardes, Surrealism evolved in highly original local varieties, with Czechoslovakia initially leading the charge in close alliance with artists in Paris, the centre of the movement.
The seminal artist Toyen (1902-1980) was a defining figure in this regard, leading the identification of the painter with the poet. The aesthetic connection between poetry and painting, particularly in the form of dream writing, was shared by the Polish Surrealists Erna Rosenstein (1913-2004) and Maria Anto (1936-2007). The title of the exhibition is taken from Anto’s dream writing dating 1975 relating to her daughter Zuzia.
Polish-Jewish avant-garde painter, architect and montage artist Teresa Zarnower (1895/1897-1949) shared Toyen’s deeply felt political concerns during the war-torn years. Traumatic experiences are prevalent in the works of Polish-Jewish artists and illustrators Franciszka Themerson (1907-1988) and Erna Rosenstein (1913-2004) and in the visceral sculptures of Czech artist Eva Kmentová (1928-1980) in the 1960s and 70s.
Toyen’s trailblazing modern iconography of transgressive sexualities and haunting fantastical speculation finds recurrence in the corporeal post-war assemblage sculptures by Alina Szapozcnikow, and in the erotic paintings and illustrations of twin-sisters Alicja and Bożena Wahl (*1932, Alicja passed away in 2020) whose libertine self-expressions breathe the spirit of the sexual revolution set against the backdrop of 1970s Communist Poland.
The exhibition not only highlights the development of surrealism across Eastern European avant-gardes, but also acts as a reminder of women’s unique contribution to the movement, specific to the region – from the psychologically charged architectural and urban structures of Anto to the apocalyptic landscapes of Zofia Rydet (1911-1997). Serbian painter Ljiljana Blazevska’s (1944-2020) retro-modernist “poetic infantilism” was predated by Milena Pavlović-Barili’s (1909-1945) paintings and fashion illustrations for American Vogue, placed in Medieval and Renaissance settings, fusing Surrealist iconography with high fashion.
Featuring over 50 works, the exhibition showcases the practice of contemporary female artists reinvested in a post-surrealist language alongside their historical counterparts.
Stanislava Kovalcikova (*1988) continues an important dissident female legacy by confronting abject, controversial themes diverging from popular morale and tastes in the medium of painting. Agata Slowak’s (*1994) work focuses on topics related to gender and feminism and the role of ritual and magic as alternative forms of knowledge transfer and community-making among women, showing a conscious influence by first generation Surrealist Lenore Fini.
The exhibition not only highlights the development of surrealism across Eastern European avant-gardes, but also acts as a reminder of women’s unique contribution to the movement, specific to the region – from the psychologically charged architectural and urban structures of Anto to the apocalyptic landscapes of Zofia Rydet (1911-1997). Serbian painter Ljiljana Blazevska’s (1944-2020) retro-modernist “poetic infantilism” was predated by Milena Pavlović-Barili’s (1909-1945) paintings and fashion illustrations for American Vogue, placed in Medieval and Renaissance settings, fusing Surrealist iconography with high fashion.
Featuring over 50 works, the exhibition showcases the practice of contemporary female artists reinvested in a post-surrealist language alongside their historical counterparts.
Stanislava Kovalcikova (*1988) continues an important dissident female legacy by confronting abject, controversial themes diverging from popular morale and tastes in
the medium of painting. Agata Slowak’s (*1994) work focuses on topics related to gender and feminism and the role of ritual and magic as alternative forms of knowledge transfer and community-making among women, showing a conscious influence by first generation Surrealist Lenore Fini.
Joanna Wos’ (*1991) paintings share Slowak’s and Kovalcikova’s highly ambiguous narratives of non-normative sexual interplay. Her female protagonists are not shown as center-stage subjects immersed in dreamy scenarios of libidinal and moral conflict. Margo Litvinova (*1998) and Oleksandra Tsapko (*2002) round off the exhibition with their collaborative short film The Bee (2023), a surrealist exploration of the unbearable burden that every Ukrainian who was forced to flee their home with the outbreak of war experiences every day.
Exhibiting artists will include Maria Anto (Poland), Teresa Żarnower (Poland/New York), Erna Rosenstein (Poland), Alina Szapocznikow, (Poland/Paris), Zofia Rydet (Poland), Franciszka Themerson (Poland/UK), Alicja and Bożena Wahl (Poland), Eva Kmentová (Czech Republic), Toyen (Czech Republic), Ljiljana Blazevska (Serbia/Macedonia), Milena Pavlović-Barili (Serbia/New York), Stanislava Kovalcikova (Slovakia/Germany), Agata Slowak (Poland), Joanna Wos (Poland), Margo Litvinova (Ukraine), Oleksandra Tsapko (Ukraine).
Anke Kempkes, curator, says: “In the interwar period, women artists from Eastern Europe took on the language of Surrealism, developing radical and highly innovative visions about modern gender issues and sexualities. During the devastations of WWII, Surrealist expression provided women artists an outlet to process trauma. Choosing Surrealism in opposition to official programmes and doctrines prevalent in the region during the Communist era is testament to their artistic independence. This exhibition, a world first, showcases the pioneering aesthetic language they developed, creating a Surrealism all their own, and their undeniable impact on younger generations of artists. The exhibition highlights the transhistorical dimension of Surrealist language as a strong female lineage in Eastern European art history, still vital and newly relevant today.”
Jonathan Tybel, Director of European ArtEast Foundation, says: “Bringing underrepresented artists from Eastern Europe to the fore has been one of our foundational and guiding principles since the establishment of the foundation in 2017. We’re thrilled to present this exhibition of often marginalised or forgotten women artists to a London audience and to show their contribution to Surrealism from the 1930s to the present day and the region’s burgeoning contemporary Surrealist art scene.”
Anke Kempkes is an internationally active Curator, Art Historian and Critic. Her areas of expertise are: Female Avant-Garde, 20th century Abstraction Movements (Bauhaus, Concrete Art, Avant-Garde in Central and Latin America), Surrealism, Minimal Dance and Music Avant-garde in the U.S., Queer Modernism and Performativity.
Since her studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London she has published in international art publications and participated in numerous conferences. She has published on Alina Szapocznikow, Mária Bartuszová, Verena Loewensberg, Heidi Bucher, Evelyne Axell, Rosemarie Castoro, Wanda Czełkowska, Lydia Okumura, Teresa Murak, Teruko Yokoi and Stanislava Kovalcikova, among others.
She has held the position of Chief Curator at Kunsthalle Basel and Muzeum Susch, Switzerland. She is Lecturer at Zurich University of the Arts.
Lenders
MS Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz. Fondacija Milenin dom Galerija Milene Pavlović Barilli. Galerie KODL / Milan Havel. Collection Artur Trawinski. Themerson Estate. Ljiljana Blaževska Collection & Archive / Alison Jacques, London. Zofia Augustynska-Martyniak, Fundacja Rydet / Raster Gallery, Warsaw. Kmentov Zoubek Fund. Zuzanna Janin archive / lokal_30, Warsaw. The Estate of Alina Szapocznikow / Hauser & Wirth. The Estate of Erna Rosenstein / Adam Sandauer / Hauser & Wirth and Foksal Gallery Foundation. A.B. Wahl Foundation / lokal_30, Warsaw. Tomasz Pasiek collection / Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw. Collection Tomasz Żmigrodzki / Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw. Wschód, Warsaw/Cologne. Collection Lin Zhang, London. Margo Litvinova and Oleksandra Tsapko. The Akeroyd Collection, London / Foksal Gallery Foundation
Special Thanks to Hauser & Wirth Galleries, UK and Zurich and to the Polish Cultural Institute, London.
