between system&intuition: CONCRETE WOMEN ARTISTS

For the first time a group of women concrete artists was the subject of an exhibition in Germany. The majority of the twelve artists who were presented have points of contact with one another, the collection of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the City of Stuttgart, or the surrounding region. The show illuminated the life and work along with the educational and exhibition conditions for women before and after 1945 as well as their sponsors and networks. The role of pioneering women gallerists who helped to promote concrete art were also taken into account for the first time. The show traced the sociological aspects of the female biographies. This revealed how biography has influenced the creative development of the artists’ lifework and its public reception.

Over 120 works illustrated the varieties of concrete art ranging between system and intuition. The multidisciplinary work of the pioneers of modern art Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Sonia Delaunay shaped the entire living environment of the 1920s; Marcelle Cahn, Aurelie Nemours, Verena Loewensberg, Geneviève Claisse, and Clara Friedrich-Jezler explore the possibilities of artistic media—color, form, and surface; Vera Molnar has used a computer for the first time to make geometric compositions, and the sculptures by Katarzyna Kobro, Mary Vieira, Charlotte Posenenske and the acoustic works by Lily Greenham call for social, participatory engagement.

The exhibition architecture in the form of showcases and seating was created in cooperation with students from the Architecture, Fine Arts, Industrial Design and Textile Design departments of the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design.