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This exhibition looks at the political upheavals of 1989. We follow changing perspectives as delve into the visual culture of the shift from the 1980s to the 1990s, with the political drama forming the starting point and background. We highlight the phenomena within the visual arts, design, music videos and photography of that time. Global outlooks intertwined with Swedish perspectives.
Sometimes, the only thing these phenomena have in common is that they happened at the same time – sometimes their connection is obvious. We look at this change in decade as a breaking point, with a recurring theme of the dissolution of borders, freedom and liberation. The year 1989 represents an incredibly clear change in European politics – a rapid and dramatic shift. However, in areas that are not directly related to politics, this year is nothing out of the ordinary.
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Artist: Jean-Claude Coutausse
Title: Federal Republic of Germany, West Berlin. A West-Berliner hitting the wall next to the Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989
Description:
Thirty years have now passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over the course of one dramatic night on 9 November 1989, the border checkpoints between East and West Berlin opened and a wave of citizens from the GDR filled the streets of West Berlin.
The decision to open the border checkpoints between East and West Berlin on 9 November is often described as a chance mistake. Party official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Günter Schabowski held a press conference in which he announced that new rules would be introduced for citizens of the GDR wishing to travel to West Germany. He had not been informed of when these rules would be introduced and during the press conference, he never explained that citizens were required to apply for a permit to cross the border. When asked when the new rules were to take effect, he replied – following a brief pause as he rifled through his documents – “straight away”; “immediately”.
Images from the Eastern European revolutions of 1989 remain in the collective consciousness as well as the photographs of Berlin from the days following 9 November. Pictures after pictures show cheering Berliners – in front of the wall, on the wall, by the Brandenburg Gate and moving through border checkpoints. The atmosphere is euphoric. This same euphoria can be felt in all the interviews with east Berliners that were broadcast on TV and radio. Some images repeat themselves more than others: people with chisels and sledgehammers smashing through the Berlin Wall; people standing on the top of the wall.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Federal Republic of Germany, West Berlin. A West-Berliner hitting the wall next to the Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989 |
Photographer | Jean-Claude Coutausse, born 1960 |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | 30 x 45 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | © Jean-Claude Coutausse |
Loan |
Artist: Tomasz Sarnecki
Title: High Noon, 4 June 1989
Description:
The Polish trade union Solidarność was founded in 1980 and, for a long time, was banned. It was legalized in 1988 and, in June 1989, won a massive victory in Poland’s election, the first free election to be held in the Eastern bloc. The poster portrays the election as an hour of destiny for the ruling communist party. Gary Cooper strides towards us in the Hollywood epic High Noon. His revolver has been exchanged for a voting slip. Authority is no longer based on armed threats but on people’s free voice
Datafält | Värde |
Title | High Noon, 4 June 1989 |
Artist | Tomasz Sarnecki |
Technique/Material | Offset litograph printed in black and red on paper |
Dimensions | 102 x 72,5 x 3,5 cm, 100 x 69,8 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
Loan |
Artist: Mats Theselius
Title: Easy chair ”Aluminum”
Description:
In the design world, this turn of the decade can be seen as the starting point of Supermodernism as well as the beginning of a growing interest in design. Even at the start of the 1980s a number of designers achieve rockstar status of sorts, with grandiose gestures and personal signatures. But the next decade develops a “designhausse” or inflation of another kind which can be found in several areas.
Design is becoming more propaganda as a strategic sales tool and weapon in corporate competition. Mobile telephones are no longer the items of Yuppies and Nokia conquers the cellular market with its thoughtful design. The clumsy Ericson models stand no chance against the many slender offerings from the Finnish company.
In 1985, one year after graduating from Konstfack in Stockholm, Mats Theselius got much attention for a cylindrical armchair covered in moose leather with sides of sheet metal. A few years later, Aluminium chair was launched with a seat and back of braided birch-bark and sides of brushed aluminium. The chair is characteristic of the period, an example of furniture where sculptural qualities were prioritized in preference to function.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Easy chair ”Aluminum” |
Designer | Mats Theselius, Swedish, born 1956 |
Manufacturer | Källemo AB |
Technique/Material | Etched aluminum, beech, birch bark |
Dimensions | Dimensions 72,5 x 59 x 58,8 cm |
Dating | Executed 1990, Designed 1988 |
Acquisition | Gift 1990 Källemo AB |
Inventory number | NMK 52/1990 |
Artist: Ingrid Orfali
Title: The Sucker
Description:
The late 1980s is characterised by an interest in feminist critique, representation and identity. The enigmatic photography of Swedish semiotician and artist Ingrid Orfali toys with the ideas of what is subject and what is object; masculine and feminine; nature and nurture. In The Sucker (1989), a shark skull appears to swallow – or spit out – a red lipstick.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | The Sucker |
Photographer | Ingrid Orfali, born 1952 |
Technique/Material | Colour photography, Cibachrome |
Dimensions | 100 x 100 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | Göteborgs konstmuseum |
Loan |
Artist: Guy Le Querrec
Title: Germany. Berlin. On the wall, people celebrating New Year's Eve. Near the Brandenburg Gate, after the fall of the wall in November of 1989. Sunday 31th December, 1989 (around midnight).
Description:
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Germany. Berlin. On the wall, people celebrating New Year's Eve. Near the Brandenburg Gate, after the fall of the wall in November of 1989. Sunday 31th December, 1989 (around midnight). |
Photographer | Guy Le Querrec, born 1941 |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | 72 x 108 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | © Guy Le Querrec/Magnum Photos |
Loan |
Artist: Tomki Nĕmec
Title: Prague, November 17, 1989
Description:
The political upheavals in Czechoslovakia during the autumn of 1989 are often referred to as The Velvet Revolution, which culminated in the increasingly comprehensive protests against the country’s communist regime. On many occasions, protesters were beaten down, yet despite this they grew in strength. One reason these demonstrations inside the Eastern Bloc could continue was that leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev had made it clear that the Brezhnev Doctrine was no longer in force. This foreign policy gave the Soviet Union the power to use military action in other countries in order to defend Communism, as was the case in Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia 1968. However, by the end of the 1980s the regimes in Eastern Europe were able to respond to protests individually. In Czechoslovakia this resulted in a government restructure with dissident and writer Vaclav Havel being appointed president on 29 December 1989.
This photography, by Tomki Nĕmec, shows students honor the memory of the student Jan Opletal who was killed in 1939 when he protested against the Nazi occupation. The manifestation was brutally stopped by the police. Despite this, during the following days hundreds of thousands of people protested against the regime in the streets of Prague.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Prague, November 17, 1989 |
Artist | Tomki Nĕmec |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | Frame 42 x 56 cm |
Dating | Made 1987 |
Acquisition | © Tomki Nĕmec |
Loan |
Artist: Stuart Franklin
Title: China. Beijing. Tiananmen Square. 'The tank man'. 5th June 1989
Description:
The 1989 protests in Beijing have become symbolized by a single visual image: that of the solitary man standing in front of the tanks. In point of fact, the event was captured on moving pictures as well as in still photographs by several photographers who were staying at a hotel in the vicinity. It is the simplicity of the image and its powerful symbolism that makes it unforgettable. The vulner-able solitary man against the brutal, anonymous force. David against Goliath. The identity of the man standing in front of the tanks remains a mystery.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | China. Beijing. Tiananmen Square. 'The tank man'. 5th June 1989 |
Photographer | Stuart Franklin, born 1956 |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | 48 x 72 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | © Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos |
Loan |
Artist: Boris Michailov
Title: Salt Lake
Description:
The fall of the Iron Curtain also resulted in the borders to the Eastern European art world gradually opening. Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov had already been introduced to a Swedish audience in 1989 as part of a Soviet photography exhibition at Kulturhuset in Stockholm. He depicts the collapse of the Soviet Union and its aftermath using a deepened human perspective and elements of social criticism. The Salt Lake series (1986) is set by a lake in southern Ukraine. Residents of the area have long believed that the lake’s waters have healing properties. Despite emissions from a neighbouring factory being pumped directly into the lake, people still gather here to swim and enjoy days off in the summer. Boris Mikhailov received the Hasselblad Award in 2000.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Salt Lake |
Artist | Boris Michailov |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | 52 x 81 cm, Frame 76 x 104 cm |
Dating | Made 1986 |
Acquisition | © Boris Michailov |
Loan |
Artist: Ron Arad
Title: Chair: Little Heavy
Description:
At the start of the 1980s, British designer Ron Arad used metal and raw cement alongside upcycled materials and leather seats from old Rover cars. The somewhat surreal objects are characterised by a cheeky “do-it-yourself” spirit that inspires a younger generation. This group includes Tom Dixon who welds scrap together whilst on stage at a club to create extraordinary punk furniture. Soon, the term “Creative Salvage” becomes a label for the rough aesthetics which are later sold as expensive numbered editions. Towards the end of the decade, the pieces become more sculptural and sophisticated.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Chair: Little Heavy |
Artist | Ron Arad, born 1951 |
Technique/Material | Stainless steel, beaten and welded |
Dimensions | 80,7 x 103,5 x 56,5 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
Loan |
Artist: Philippe Starck
Title: Stacking stool: W.W.Stool
Description:
Aesthetics, culture and philosophy are linked to the 1980s, with post-modernism signalling that a new epoch in the history of thinking has begun. Fixed values, total truths and objectivity are no longer seen as obvious, rather something that can be negotiated. Within architecture and design, many reject many of the ideals of modernism, mixing them freely with different eras. This movement includes the iconic Italian group Memphis, whose collections are characterised by uninhibited eclecticism as well as Philippe Starck who becomes a leading “star designer”.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Stacking stool: W.W.Stool |
Artist | Philippe Starck, French, born 1949 |
Technique/Material | Lacquered sand-casted aluminium |
Dimensions | 97 x 56 x 53 cm |
Dating | Made 1990 |
Acquisition | Vitra Design Museum |
Loan |
Artist: Jean-Claude Coutausse
Title: Fashion show spring / summer collection 1990 of designer Martin Margiela in a squat in northern Paris, France. September 1989
Description:
Shoulder pads, pastel shades, ruffles and frills all create a stereotypical picture of 1980’s fashions. Yet many of the decade’s most successful designers preferred black. They include Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo who are behind the Comme des Garçons label. Their garments are worn by wealthy intellectuals and cultural profiles who struggle to identify with the nouveau riche, flamboyant fashions of the 1980s.
Martin Margiela also objects to the extravagance in vogue with an anti-glamour, conceptual approach to fashion. Margiela makes his debut in the autumn of 1988 and one year later, a show is held in an abandoned playground on the outskirts of Paris.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Fashion show spring / summer collection 1990 of designer Martin Margiela in a squat in northern Paris, France. September 1989 |
Photographer | Jean-Claude Coutausse, born 1960 |
Technique/Material | Fotografi |
Dimensions | 30 x 45 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | © Jean-Claude Coutausse |
Loan |
Artist: John Kandell
Title: Chair from the Restaurant Rolfs Kök, Stockholm
Description:
When Rolfs kök (Rolf’s Kitchen) opened in Stockholm 1989, the restaurant was described as a “young meeting place in a trendy, minimalist environment”. The interior design by Johnas Bohlin and Thomas Sandell is a Nordic interpretation of the Spartan Shaker Style (that originated from the religious and aesthetic religious movement known as The Shakers). The chairs with braided webbing have been designed by John Kandell and additional chairs hang from bolts on the walls above a fixed long bench. The bare impression is enhanced by the restaurant’s logo that uses a simple and graphic design by Björn Kussofsky and Magnus Wretblad. During the 1990s, Rolfs kök is followed by a string of restaurants where the design is just as important as the food.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Chair from the Restaurant Rolfs Kök, Stockholm |
Artist | John Kandell, Swedish, born 1925-11-02, dead 1991 |
Acquisition | Private collection |
Loan |
Artist: Jeff Koons
Title: Art Magazine Ads (Art in America)
Description:
The non-hierarchical approach which characterised postmodern art also led to an interdisciplinary approach to norms and ideas of good taste. This awoke an interest in kitsch expressions amongst several artists. The foremost advocate of this movement is most probably American artist Jeff Koons. Since the end of the 1980s, he has challenged established aesthetic value scales in works with clear pop-culture references, often using himself as part of the subject.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Art Magazine Ads (Art in America) |
Artist | Jeff Koons, American, born 1955-01-21 |
Technique/Material | Offset lithography on paper |
Dimensions | 104,5 x 84 x 3,5 cm, 91,4 x 71,1 cm |
Dating | Made 1988 - 1989 |
Acquisition | Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Purchased with funds from the Anna-Stina Malmborg and Gunnar Höglund foundation |
Loan |
Artist: Jasper Morrison
Title: Chair "Ply-chair"
Description:
In 1989, British designer Jasper Morrison exhibits Some New Items for the Home in Milan. The Spartan interior contains a set of chairs and a table made of light plywood and can be seen as a statement against the grandiose gestures and extravagance of the decade. The Englishman brings modernistic ideals to life and sets the course for the next decade. Swedish designers in particular are encouraged to delve into their cultural heritage.
In Sweden, there is the emergence of somewhat updated or piquant folklore and the Dala horse becomes a popular design. It is becoming clearer that the simple and modest are overtaking the smug and the expensive. During the 1990s, the Supermodernist style has a major breakthrough and Scandinavian design experiences a renaissance.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Chair "Ply-chair" |
Design | Jasper Morrison, English, born 1959 |
Manufacturer | Vitra Design Museum |
Technique/Material | Layered plywood, birch surface veneer |
Dating | Executed 1989 |
Acquisition | Purchased 2000 with Johan Henrik and Clara Augusta Scharp fund |
Inventory number | NMK 44/2000 |
Artist: Guerrilla Girls
Title: Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?
Description:
The anonymous artist collective, Guerilla Girls represents a clear feminist focus. Since the middle of the 1980s, they have successfully exposed structural racism and sexism in the art world. They hide their identity by wearing gorilla masks and use the names of famous females throughout art history as their aliases.
In 1985, they began their legendary poster campaign against museums, galleries, art critics and all others they believed to be part of or otherwise complicit in the underrepresentation of women and people of colour in art. In works such as Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? (1989) they use the design of the poster and visual language of the advertisement to effectively promote their messages.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum? |
Artist | Guerrilla Girls |
Technique/Material | Poster |
Dimensions | 43,18 x 55,88 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | Mjellby Konstmuseum/Halmstads Kommuns konstsamling |
Loan |
Artist: Andres Serrano
Title: mmersion (Piss Christ)
Description:
This is one of the most controversial works of art of recent decades. Serrano’s photograph portrays a plastic crucifix immersed in a tank filled with the artist’s urine. The artist, who is himself a Roman Catholic, has claimed that the work is symbolic of Christ’s passion and death. Public discussion of the work began in the USA in 1989 when it was shown at an exhibition supported by government funding. In the Senate, Jesse Helms and other Republicans demanded that financial support for the exhibition should be stopped.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | mmersion (Piss Christ) |
Artist | Andres Serrano |
Technique/Material | Colour photography |
Dimensions | 151 x 100 cm, Frame 165,1 x 114,6 cm |
Dating | Made 1987 |
Acquisition | Donation Yvon Lambert en 2012. Centre National des Arts Plastiques |
Loan |
Artist: Nan Goldin
Title: Cookie in the Garden of Ciro's Provincetown, MA, 1989. The Cookie Mueller Portfolio, 1976-1989
Description:
The spread of the AIDS virus came to categorise the latter years of the 1980s, with the New York art circles being severely hit. The physical vulnerability of humans and the closeness to death became central themes, not least for the artists who were directly or indirectly victims of the disease.
American photographer Nan Goldin uses photography as a visual diary. In raw images of herself, friends and lovers, she turns her life into art. When her close friend Cookie Mueller died of AIDS in the autumn of 1989, Nan Goldman compiled The Cookie Portfolio 1976-1989, tender and intimate images of Cookie and her husband Vittorio Scarpati who had died a little earlier. The photographs become a tool for remembrance and protecting against losses of those most dear.
Datafält | Värde |
Title | Cookie in the Garden of Ciro's Provincetown, MA, 1989. The Cookie Mueller Portfolio, 1976-1989 |
Photographer | Nan Goldin, born 1953 |
Technique/Material | Archival pigment print |
Dimensions | 33 x 49 cm |
Dating | Made 1989 |
Acquisition | Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London |
Loan |