Unfree Freedom
Fall Spotlight Exhibition
Curated by Janeil Engelstad
October 28 – December 10, 2011
Opening reception: saturday, october 29, 3–5pm
One of the defining events of the twentieth 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 October 28 – December 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.
(Image credit) Rudolf Sikora, Exclamation Mark, 1974, photo collage, paper, 19" x 27"