All Power to the Imagination!

  • 25/2 – 3/9/2023
  • Curated by Jiří Fajt
  • Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau
  • Drážďany, D
Like hardly any other generation, the Czech avant-garde of the first decades of the 20th century illustrates what is possible when there are no limits to the imagination. Inspired by French isms, especially Surrealism, they created a visual language whose impact resonates to this day. This extraordinary, internationally relevant epoch in Czech cultural history is characterised by a specific poetics linked to the indomitable power of imagination and an endless joy in discovery and experimentation. The exhibition "All Power to the imagination!" shows the works of its best-known representatives in dialogue with contemporary positions from the Czech Republic and invites visitors to enter their fantastic worlds.

As the grand finale of the "Czech Season", the show brings together works by around 51 artists from the 1910s to the present day. Characteristic of the Czech art milieu before the Second World War is a playful streak combined with (self-)critical detachment, humour and irony. A colourfulness of form and colour and an indispensable lyrical tone are striking. On display are classical genres such as painting, drawing and graphics as well as three-dimensional sculptures, sculptures and installations, textile and glass art and even video art and film projections.

With Zdeněk Pešánek's first kinetic sculptures, a monumental work by Magdaléna Jetelová or a light installation made of countless light bulbs by Krištof Kintera, classical-modern art and contemporary positions meet here in a spectacular way.
Something Surreal: The Far Away Worlds of Yesterday and Tomorrow