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EXHIBITION “PAINTING TUMULT 1979-1988. M\u00dcLHEIMER FREIHEIT”<\/strong><\/p>\n CSW, Toru\u0144, November 13, 2022 – April 16, 2023<\/strong> To read more click HERE<\/strong><\/a>, HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The exhibition was a part of the project “Kujawy+Pomorze – promotion of the economic potencial of the Region – edition II” within the Regional Operational Programme for Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region for the years 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.<\/p>\n The exhibition Painting Tumult 1979-1988. M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/span><\/strong> accompanying the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Film Festival<\/strong><\/span> was the first in Poland presentation of works by the group of German neo-expressionists being active in Cologne<\/strong> in the first half of the 1980s. The exhibition \u2013 curated by Marek \u017bydowicz<\/strong> \u2013 was open for visitors and available from November 13, 2022 to mid-April, 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n The German New Expressionism is perceived as one of the last great artistic movements of the 20th century. The success of young artists from across our western border, whose work became very popular in the 1980s, was considered in art as a symbol of return to figurative painting. The<\/strong> M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/strong> group played an important role in this movement, and was distinguished by its amicable attitude to all artistic phenomena. They were said to be artists without ideology. The group was named after the location of the studio \u2013 the backyard of a neglected tenement near the banks of the Rhine River, at M\u00fclheimer Freiheit No. 110 in Cologne<\/strong>. In October 1980, several painters gathered there, and started to work together until 1984. It was due to preparations for a joint exhibition offered to them by Paul Maenz<\/strong>, the owner of an extremely crucial gallery in Cologne<\/strong>, who became their promoter. The exhibition was eventually opened on November 13, 1980. It is truly an amazing coincidence that the opening of the event in Toru\u0144 will take place exactly 42 years later!<\/p>\n The group members were: Hans Peter Adamski, Peter B\u00f6mmels, Walter Dahn, Ji\u0159\u00ed Georg Dokoupil, Gerard Kever, and Gerhard Naschberger<\/strong>. The founders of M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/strong> defined their painting in the following way: as an inexpensive, quick medium that satisfies the need for being with art on a daily basis, an artistic life that is also \u2013 but not only \u2013 romantic. They worked without any program assumptions, without formulating any manifesto, nor did they have any ambition to create their own school or style. They distanced themselves from engaged art and politics. One cannot remain indifferent to the paintings of the M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/strong> group. The works have their unquestionable place in the art history of the 20th century and had a significant impact on art, both German and global.<\/p>\n More than 200 large-format paintings<\/strong> by the group were presented in Toru\u0144<\/strong>. The works stand out by their unusual, expressive form referring to the aesthetics of art brut, graffiti, bad painting, punk fanzines, new wave music, or the scribbled walls of public toilets. It was a unique chance to see how the 1980s Painting TUMULT artists in Cologne<\/strong> used techniques of action painting, collage, spray painting, and mural painting. The paintings may seem violent, aggressive, seemingly carelessly framed. But they perfectly capture the spirit of the times in which they were created, the times when the flame of euphoria of the youth movement of the late 1960s had already burned out, and the world, after Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan, was once again plunged into the arms race and rivalry between two global powers. Does this sound familiar?<\/p>\n In the words of Marek \u017bydowicz<\/strong>, the exhibition curator: Works of the M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/strong> artists were a form of spontaneous reaction by sensitive young people to the surrounding world, including minor private and occasionally public events, those of historical importance. The M\u00fclheimer Freiheit<\/strong> phenomenon does not intentionally follow any of the Expressionist styles. Their creative efforts are unique in their full acceptance of the laws and roles played by various phenomena in the world of art. They simply represent Affirmative Expressionism.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nOrganizers:<\/strong> European Film Centre CAMERIMAGE, TUMULT Foundation
\nPartner:<\/strong> Center of Contemporary Art \u201eZnaki Czasu\u201d in Toru\u0144
\nThe main partner:<\/strong> Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region<\/p>\n