Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism at Heide fuels visions of a new utopia – The Sydney Morning Herald

It's tricky to imagine now but in the years immediately before and after the Russian Revolution, there was an absolute belief in Moscow and beyond that a utopian society was achievable.

The Bolshevik visionof a socialist, egalitarian world was not a lofty, impossible ideal: a classless society with equal rights for all seemed like a real alternative.

A group of artists, driven by these heady, noble ideas, were determined to create a new movement, a form of art of the people and for the people. The movement would become known as constructivism and their work and vision was in keeping with the revolutionary spirit of the time.

Driven by a social agenda of inclusivity, practicality and utilitarianism, the constructivists made art inspired by cubism, which was abstract, made use of bold colour and was meant to challengeconventional ideas about creativity.

Their work ranged across mediums, includingpainting and sculpture, photography,textiles and the graphic arts as well as stage and costume design.

It was this versatility that helped tomakethe Russian constructivists'contribution so remarkable and enduring, according to the co-curators of Call of the Avant-Garde - Constructivism and Australian Art at Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Sue Cramer and Lesley Harding say the movement focused on art's role in the new society, rather than aesthetics.Traditional ideas of art were denounced as "individualistic, subjective and bourgeois".

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For this reason, many of the original constructivists abandoned media such as painting and sculpture, in favour of what we would now call "design". Their thinking was that art should have a practical purpose andtheir work was used in posters and brochures promoting the cause as well as textile design andthe painting of buildings, trains and ships.

As Cramer and Harding concede, it is a complex movement to define. The name takes in several phases,the first of which is the Russian artists working together after the revolution, mainly based in Moscow. Working in 1920 and 1921, this group decided to takeart into the factories and onto the streets, in an effort to integrate art into everyday life.

Key names includedVladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, the Stenberg brothers, KonstantineMedunetskii, Karl Ioganson and AleksaiGan.

Up until the 1970s, constructivism generally referred more to the international movement that was inspired by the Russians, rather than the Russian artists themselves.

For the Heide show, Cramer says, the first body of research involved "sharpening our knowledge of what constructivism was, so we could speak about how its ideas have been picked up."

"[We] needed to be clear on that before we tackle the idea of how Australian artists were influenced, given the influence came via a second wave.A number of Russian artists had largely left Moscow and disseminated ideas of constructivism through Europe, especially the UK but also in France and Germany."

It was not untilthe 1930s and '40s that Australian artists started using the term to describe their work. Cramer and Harding say the local emphasis was onthe movement's principles such as geometric abstraction, rather than any ideological or philosophical aims.

At that point, the Russian artists were still largely unknown, hidden behind the Iron Curtain, so it was through the prism of other international artists that the movement was discovered here. Abstract painters,largelyin Sydney, such as Frank Hinder, RalphBastonand Gordon Andrews were the first to adopt the name, largelyinfluencedby artists in Britain and the US.

Later generations of Australian artists worked locally and overseas with proponents of the ideas underlying constructivism. German-born Inge King, for example, worked in Britain in the late 1940s along with Leonard French and then emigrated to Australia in 1951, bringing with her a wide experience of European art. Lenton Parr worked with sculptor Henry Moore in England, where he started to construct sculpture with machine parts. King and Parr later founded Melbourne's Centre Five group, advocates of abstract art and art with a social purpose.

Cramer says the constructivistidea of utopianism and art into production arecurrent ideas and warrant further investigation.

Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Russian Revolution in October this year,Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism and Australian Artfeatures more than 200 works.Pieces by Australian artists such as RalphBalson,IngeKing, Robert Owen, Rose Nolan and ZoeCroggonare shown alongsideBritish constructivistsBen Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, aswell asworks by key figuresfrom the original Russian movement including AlexanderRodchenko, AlexandraExterand ElLissitzky.

The idea for the showin part came when Cramer andHarding worked onCubism and Australian artin 2009. Their research unearthed an incredible volume of material;Constructivism is the third in a series examining modernism, together withLess is More: Minimalism and Post Minimalism.

"The excitement of new formal discoveries, the integration of ideas across the various art forms, and the strong role taken by women artists who, unusually for the time, were considered equal to the men, are just some of the inspiring features of Russian constructivism that continue to resonate today," says Cramer.

The state of the world, interestingly, has also given a new currency to this hugelyinfluential movement. Cramer argues that constructivism has a particular relevancebecause of key developments in global politics in recent times:"people are looking at different ways to create a better world".

Even if today's artists are largely sceptical about the possibility of any genre of politics creatinga utopia, their aims no doubt often align with the original constructivistobjective of creating a better world.

Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism and Australian Art runs until October 8. heide.com.au

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Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism at Heide fuels visions of a new utopia - The Sydney Morning Herald