"The roaring twenties", an invitation to remember and reflect at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

19/05/2021. [Bilbao] Spain 7/5/2021 > 19/9/2021
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE

Until next September 19, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao brings us an extraordinary and very timely retrospective on "The Roaring Twenties".

The exhibition brought in collaboration with the Kunsthaus Zürich, curated by Cathérine Hug and Petra Joos and with the special participation of Calixto Bieito, gathers in seven narrative chapters more than 300 objects and works that put the viewer directly into the atmosphere of the pure creative effervescence of that time.

Warwara Fjodorowna Stepanowa. Sin título, 1926. Private collection, Zúrich. © VARST (Varvara Stepanova), VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Warwara Fjodorowna Stepanowa. Sin título, 1926. Private collection, Zúrich. © VARST (Varvara Stepanova), VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Bird in space (Oiseau dans l’espace), 1932–40. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venecia, 1976 © Succession Brancusi - All rights reserved. VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021. Photograph by David Heald

Josef Albers. City, 1928. Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Constantin Brancusi. Study view (Atelieransicht), 1930–31. Kunsthaus Zürich, Photography Collection. Donation in memory of Carola Giedion-Welcker, 1986.© Succession Brancusi - All rights reserved. VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Max Ernst. Untitled, ca. 1920. Kunsthaus Zürich, Collection of Graphic Works. Gift of Erna and Curt Burgauer, 1980. © Max Ernst, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Theodore Lux Feininger, Xanti Schawinsky. Untitled, ca. 1927. Private collection, Zurich. © The Xanti Schawinsky Estate / Nachlass Theodore Lux Feininger 2021

Grethe Jürgens. Hairdressing mannequins (Frisierpuppen), 1927. Private collection. © Sprengel Museum Hannover, Vermächtnis Grethe Jürgens

Fernand Léger. Three women with still life (Les trois femmes et la nature morte), 1921. Fondation Beyeler. © Fernand Léger, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

I Wonder Where My Baby Is To-Night!, 1926. Music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn, cover by Fabien Loris. Francis-Day, Paris (ed.) Dora und Walter Labhart Collection

László Moholy-Nagy. AXL II, 1927. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift, Mrs. Andrew P. Fuller, 1964. © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy. Photograph by Kristopher McKay

Xanti Schawinsky. Tiller-Girls, 1925. The Xanti Schawinsky Estate. © The Xanti Schawinsky Estate 2021

Ernest Neuschul. Takka-Takka dances (Takka-Takka tanzt), 1926. Private collection. © Nachlass Ernest Neuschul 2021.

Christian Schad. Maika, 1929. Private collection. © Christian Schad Stiftung, Aschaffenburg, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Jeanne Mammen. Boring Dolls (Langweilige Puppen), 1929. The George Economou Collection. © Jeanne Mammen, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Dance of Palucca (Palucca-Tanz), 1926–27. Gret Palucca brochure. Photograph of, among others, Charlotte Rudolph. Interior artwork by Vasily Kandinsky. Kunsthaus Zürich, Library. © Charlotte Rudolph, Vasily Kandinsky, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Madeleine Vionnet. Cocktail dress, ca. 1928. Martin Kamer. Photograph by Kunsthaus Zürich and Franca Candrian

ean Patou. "Nuit de Chine" dress, early 1920s. Palais Galliera - musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

Sylvie Fleury. Mondrian Dress Rack, 1993/2016, Courtesy of the artist and Karma International, Zurich and Los Angeles. © Sylvie Fleury, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Hans Richter. Rhythmus 23 (Rhythmus 23), 1923. Museo d’arte della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano. Canton Ticino Collection. © Estate Hans Richter

Gerrit T. Rietveld. Red and Blue Chair (Rot-Blauer Stuhl), 1918 (design), 1960s (production). Vitra Design Museum. © Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021. © Vitra Design Museum, Photograph by Jürgen Hans

Thomas Ruff (*1958). h.l.k. 02, 2000. Thomas Ruff, Düsseldorf. © Thomas Ruff, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Fabian Marti. Cosmic Giggles Series (IX) [Cosmic Giggles Series (IX)], 2010. Kunsthaus Zürich. Photography Collection, 2010. © Fabian Marti, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Kader Attia. Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), 2010. Courtesy: artist; collections: MoMA, New York; Frac Pays de la Loire; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; & Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul & London. © Kader Attia, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021

Illustration of the exhibition "The Roaring Twenties". Image courtesy of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

One hundred years have passed since that moment, the one in which the world was trying to mend the wounds of the First World War and the losses of the flu pandemic of the year 18. That moment of the rise of Surrealism, Dadaism, the Bauhaus, Purism and the first great steps of the Modern Movement.

"The roaring twenties" arrives to make us reflect, from a different point of view, on the dichotomies that marked this decade, of crisis and freedom, trauma and creativity, and how those differences were put into dialogue from the artistic movements that arose and spread throughout this period.

"This show goes beyond the cliches of the 1920s to explore those aesthetic movements that were so influential and important that they are still around today, even if we don't realize it."

The Roaring Twenties.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents an exhibition with important parallels with the current 1920s, which, that even recognizing the distances between one period and another, tries to leave a reflection on the achievements, defeats and learnings of that time and how recovering their memory can help us to break the cycle.

The exhibition presents an extraordinary catalogue, with works ranging from Max Ernst and Ernest Neuschul, through Moholy-Nagy and Kandinsky, to more recent works by contemporary artists who touch on themes or techniques from the 1920s such as Fabian Marti and Kader Attia.

The following is the schedule of collateral activities planned for the exhibition.

- Round table (May 5)
- French Institute screening The Lovers of Montparnasse (May 14)
- Shared reflections. Curatorial Vision (May 19). Key Concepts (May 26)
- Actions with local creators (June 3, 10, 17, 25 and July 1)
- Talk Overcoming Conflict: Neuroscience between wars: past and present. (June 16)
- Concert Juan Echanove (September 11)

"The 1920s were an explosion of creativity, erotic liberation, sexual drive and feminism, but also of trauma, struggle and savage and ruthless economics. And all this 'madness' is reflected in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in a very special way, thanks to the direction of the set design by Calixto Bieito".

Petra Joos, curator of the exhibition in Bilbao.

1920 was a decade marked by both hardship and progress: cities grew at breakneck speed, the patriarchal concept of the family was challenged and transformed, and disadvantaged social groups began to make themselves heard in culture and politics. On the other hand, improvements in workers' conditions went hand in hand with a growing leisure industry and an innovative spirit fuelled art, in which experimentation embraced all disciplines.