DADA Differently
To mark the 100th anniversary of the dada movement, which began in Zurich, Museum Haus Konstruktiv opens this exhibition year with the historical group exhibition 鈥淒ADA Differently鈥�, which is dedicated to three of this movement鈥檚 main female representatives: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Hannah H枚ch, and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
In the first half of the 20th century, two apparently contradictory art movements developed in Zurich, making this city a focal point in art history: dada, founded at Spiegelgasse 1 on February 5th, 1916, and concrete art, which had several of its most important manifestations in 1930s Zurich. Both of these art movements still provide guiding stimuli for international art to this day. No matter how different they appear to be, they do have a key aspect in common: the pursuit of maximum autonomy. Both radically broke away from their respective era鈥檚 conventional understanding of art: dada with its revolutionary gestures of actionist anti-art, and the concrete-constructivist movement with its consistent liberation of artistic means from their representational function. During the First World War, Zurich became a place of refuge for numerous opponents of war. Dada was their anarchistic response to the horrors of war, to middle-class norms, to art traditions, and to firmly established role models. In the exhibition 鈥淒ADA Differently鈥�, we focus on the three outstanding German-speaking artists Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889鈥�1943), Hannah H枚ch (1889鈥�1978), and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874鈥�1927), who all contributed significantly to shaping the dada movement, which has had rather masculine connotations up until now. At the same time, the selection of these very different protagonists also marks the three geographical centers of the dada movement, which was first named as such in 1916 in Zurich, spread to Berlin, and found its American manifestation in New York.
For this exhibition project, the decisive factor was the observation that although a number of women played a part in dada, they were often overshadowed by their male colleagues Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Tristan Tzara. Closer examination reveals a diverse array of experimental works in various media, whereby the dada women鈥檚 multimedia and performance-based approaches in particular still appear surprisingly current. While the works of Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hannah H枚ch are shown in exhibitions worldwide to this day, the oeuvre of the 鈥淒ada Baroness鈥� Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven is largely unknown, and yet, with her bizarre costumes, radical performances, readymades, and visual poems, she adopted one of the most provocative positions of her time.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the dada movement, which began in Zurich, Museum Haus Konstruktiv opens this exhibition year with the historical group exhibition 鈥淒ADA Differently鈥�, which is dedicated to three of this movement鈥檚 main female representatives: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Hannah H枚ch, and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
In the first half of the 20th century, two apparently contradictory art movements developed in Zurich, making this city a focal point in art history: dada, founded at Spiegelgasse 1 on February 5th, 1916, and concrete art, which had several of its most important manifestations in 1930s Zurich. Both of these art movements still provide guiding stimuli for international art to this day. No matter how different they appear to be, they do have a key aspect in common: the pursuit of maximum autonomy. Both radically broke away from their respective era鈥檚 conventional understanding of art: dada with its revolutionary gestures of actionist anti-art, and the concrete-constructivist movement with its consistent liberation of artistic means from their representational function. During the First World War, Zurich became a place of refuge for numerous opponents of war. Dada was their anarchistic response to the horrors of war, to middle-class norms, to art traditions, and to firmly established role models. In the exhibition 鈥淒ADA Differently鈥�, we focus on the three outstanding German-speaking artists Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889鈥�1943), Hannah H枚ch (1889鈥�1978), and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874鈥�1927), who all contributed significantly to shaping the dada movement, which has had rather masculine connotations up until now. At the same time, the selection of these very different protagonists also marks the three geographical centers of the dada movement, which was first named as such in 1916 in Zurich, spread to Berlin, and found its American manifestation in New York.
For this exhibition project, the decisive factor was the observation that although a number of women played a part in dada, they were often overshadowed by their male colleagues Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Tristan Tzara. Closer examination reveals a diverse array of experimental works in various media, whereby the dada women鈥檚 multimedia and performance-based approaches in particular still appear surprisingly current. While the works of Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hannah H枚ch are shown in exhibitions worldwide to this day, the oeuvre of the 鈥淒ada Baroness鈥� Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven is largely unknown, and yet, with her bizarre costumes, radical performances, readymades, and visual poems, she adopted one of the most provocative positions of her time.
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