In 1920, two artists who held a large international exhibition in Berlin were arrested by the German government and brought up on charges of defamation of the Army. George Grosz and Rudolph Schlicter argued that their inflammatory works were merely practical jokes. As a veteran of World War I, Grosz argued that he meant to disrespect to the military or the military's supporting institutions. The two artists were lying.
Both Grosz and Schlicter were influential participants in the artistic entity known as dada. Viciously critical of the society that allowed the carnage of World War I to occur, the concept of dada rejected the idea of a civilized society.
Dada would later be remembered for its influence on surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop art and performance art. The first major retrospective in America of this international avant-garde movement opens Friday at the National Gallery of Art and provides an opportunity to view nearly 450 works by artists from across Europe and the United States.
The exhibition offers the opportunity to explore the roots of modern art and thought in the mediums of film, music, painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media by artists like Hans Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Hannah H?ch, Kurt Schwitters, Tristan Tzara and Man Ray. On view are works from the height of the movement, from 1916-1924, such as the iconic mustachioed subversion of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa by Duchamp and rarely seen objects like the masks used by Zurich performers in the early years of the movement.
The exhibition begins by contextually grounding the viewer in the images of World War I. A short film displays scenes from the war, such as mutilated and disfigured soldiers and hoards of amputees heading home to countries impoverished by the four-year war. These images provide context for the art to follow.
The show then walks its patrons through almost a decade's worth of groundbreaking and mind-bending art, all of it biting, satirical, cynical and universally relevant. In addition to the art, it also includes the promotional fliers and posters, manifestos and other publications that influenced half a century's worth of graphic design.
Starting at the movement's beginnings in Zurich, the neutral capital of Switzerland, where avant-garde thinkers gathered during the war, it moves gallery by gallery into postwar Berlin, Hanover, Cologne, New York and finally Paris. As each city is explored, the work generated in each is painstakingly put into its context both in the movement as a whole and its place in history. This influx of information is incredibly interesting, but can also make the exhibit a little dense. Viewers might have to make a couple of trips to the museum to take it all in, but it's well worth it. This exhibition literally offers something from the roots of every contemporary creative pursuit.
The loose conglomeration of artists committed to producing dada works inaugurated or advanced the use of mediums that were new to the time but taken for granted today. Similar groundbreaking innovations were made by several artists in film, music, photography and found art sculpture. Their subjects were modern and abstract, to better communicate the horrific pace of the modern age and the cruelty of war. This wide-ranging exhibition gives dada a much-deserved place in the history of art, but also in the lineage of modern thought.
"Dada" opens this Friday, Feb. 19, and runs until May 14 at the National Gallery of Art. Several lectures, performances and film screenings are scheduled in the East Building in conjunction with this exhibition. Check out www.nga.gov/exhibitions/dadainfo.shtm for directions and information on special events.
