“Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965”

“Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965,” which opened October 13th, 2016 at the Haus der Kunst in Munich, is an historical exhibition that sets out to rewrite the story of late Modernism during the Cold War. It succeeds in doing so by examining not only the Euro-American sphere of art production, but also by presenting a global picture of postwar art activity from former colonial countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Organized by a curatorial team led by Haus der Kunst Director Okwui Enwezor, “Postwar” is an ambitious assembly of paintings, sculptures, installations, films, archival documents and photographs from around the globe. Featuring 350 works by 218 artists from 65 countries, “Postwar” is a revisionist exhibition of biennale proportions, albeit with a distinctly male voice since only 15 percent of the artists are women.

The venue for this ambitious project is the former Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art), a monumental architectural legacy of the National Socialists, opened in 1937 and intended as a ‘temple’ for only German art. The building and its historical weight contextualizes the “Postwar” exhibition, which fills the spacious ground-level galleries of the building, and then some. Large three-dimensional works occupying the museum’s grand hall introduce the show. They include Work, 1956, a futuristic Japanese Gutai piece by Sadamasa Motonaga made of clear vinyl sheets filled with coloured water and strung like hammocks from the ceiling; the blazing orange steel sculpture, Capital, 1960, by Anthony Caro; and Atsuko Tanaka’s funky, blinking Electric Dress, 1956. Together they deliver a warm, playful counterpoint to the overbearing marble hall.

The exhibition is organized around eight themes. “Form Matters” is the largest section, including 52 artists representing the transnational development of late Modernist art forms. The themes themselves do not impose a chronology on the show but serve as nodes of global artistic production during the two decades. Unfortunately, “Postwar” does not link one theme to the other in any clear relational way in the exhibition’s layout. In fact, the exhibition lacks wayfinding signage of any kind, or critical interpretation of the works beyond the basic black vinyl wall lettering that introduces each theme. Therefore, the excellent 300-plus page exhibition guide is an essential point of reference for the viewer, while exploring the hundreds of works on display.

The first gallery opens appropriately with the theme “Aftermath: Zero Hour and the Atomic Era,” featuring artists whose work concentrates on the immediate effects and aftermath of the atomic bomb and the Holocaust: two cataclysmic events of the Second World War that went on to define the postwar era. It is inevitable that this is one of the most powerful and memorable sections in the exhibition. For example, the grainy black-and-white photographs in Nagasaki Journey, 1945, by Yˉosuke Yamahata, taken just days after the explosion, stare back at the viewer like courtroom evidence, irrefutable proof of our willingness as humans to commit premeditated mass murder.

The Holocaust is addressed by the impenetrable blackness of Arbeit Macht Frei, 1958, a solid black enamel surface on canvas by Frank Stella, and the sinister double-sided painting by Polish artist Andrzej Wróblewski, titled Liquidation of the Ghetto/Blue Chauffeur, 1945. However, it is the large installation by Joseph Beuys, Hirschdenkmäler (Monuments to the Stag), 1958/82, that takes centre stage here. It employs the mythic symbolism of the stag to invoke and hasten the rebirth and renewal of a traumatized nation.

Although artists from newly independent countries, such as Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria and India, are integral across all the themes in “Postwar,” the full force of post-colonial voices can best be heard in “Cosmopolitan Modernism,” “Nations Seeking Forms,” and “New Images of Man.” Highlights include the exceptional Seascape with Three Boats (n.d.), by renowned Pakistani painter and calligrapher, Syed Sadequain, and the delicate Shirt #1, 1958, by Iranian artist Siah Armajani. They are examples of the ‘new hybridities’ of the modern that combine international styles with traditional imagery to create new forms and meanings. In his seascape, Sadequain decorates the three boats with calligraphic scriptures from the Qur’an, and Armajani applies verses by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz onto the lining from his father’s suit jacket.

The political struggles for independence, the resulting mass migrations of people, and the cultural impact of resettling in foreign countries are some of the subjects the artists consider at length throughout “Postwar.” Indian artist Krishen Khanna’s News of Gandiji’s Death, 1948, portrays the religious and political confusion brought on by India’s independence, while Trees Behind the Wall, c. 1960, by Inji Efflatoun, emerged during the four years she spent as a political prisoner in Egypt. “Postwar” makes the important point that “nationalism” meant something quite different to the nations seeking independence from their colonial masters than it did in the wake of the devastation in war-torn Europe. For example, we sense a feeling of confidence and optimism in S Sudjojono’s painting Pertemuan di Tjikampek yang Bersedjarah, 1964, that documents an historic meeting of radical communists shortly after Indonesia achieved its independence from the Dutch in 1945.

Other themes in “Postwar” explore Socialist Realism in its Soviet form and in other communist countries; the international Concrete and neo-Concrete movements originating from Latin America; and the impact of new mass media communications technology on global interconnectivity. No single survey of world art can expect to be complete, but without doubt “Postwar” is a major achievement in this capacity and will serve as a template for future exhibitions of its kind.

At the same time, I would have preferred seeing fewer works in favour of a more interactive, participatory exhibition design that would engage the viewer in a transformative experience with the individual artworks. Instead, organizers have settled for a generic installation where the works for the most part are installed without distinction and lit by general, often anemic lighting from the museum’s lofty ceilings. Nonetheless, the “Postwar” exhibition is buttressed by a lavish tome of an exhibition catalogue, published in English and German. It is packed with in-depth scholarly essays accompanied by beautiful reproductions of the artworks and archival documents that tell the complete “Postwar” story. ❚

“Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965” is on exhibition at Haus der Kunst, Munich, from October 14, 2016 to March 26, 2017.

Robert Epp is an art museum consultant currently based in Munich.