Unfree Freedom: An Exploration of Identity in Central Europe
@ Center for Book and Paper Arts
1104 South Wabash Ave, 2nd Floor
Opening Thursday, October 20th, from 3PM - 5PM
On view through Saturday, December 10th
Curated by Janeil Engelstad
One of the defining events of the 20th century was the momentous fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. For many Central and Eastern European artists the political and social changes that followed the break-up of the Soviet- bloc, fundamentally changed the subject and style of their work. This Spotlight Exhibition examines how blacklisted artists responded to the restraints imposed on them under communist regimes and how their worked changed when those systems fell apart. Featured artists include former dissidents who took the view that being blacklisted was a refuge away from the government mandate of making work in the Socialist Realism style . . . a place and state of being that Slovak artist Rudolf Sikora termed, an “unfree freedom”. The exhibition also includes work by young, emerging artists who are responding to a new set of freedoms and constraints, brought about by democracy, capitalism and globalization.
UNFREE FREEDOM is being produced in conjunction with Voices From the Center: Central Europeans Reflect on Life Before and After the Fall of the Berlin Wall a project and exhibition produced by Janeil Englestad at threewalls from Oct 28 – Dec 10.
Research for Unfree Freedom has been partially funded from a generous contribution from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
The Spotlight Series is dedicated to the co-location of exhibitions of artists’ books, ephemera, handmade paper and other media in partnership with exhibitions and events happening at cultural spaces throughout Chicago.
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Tags: Center for Book and Paper Arts, threewalls
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