Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean is thrilled to present the first retrospective of Swiss-American artist Alexander ‘Xanti’ Schawinsky (1904-1979) outside Switzerland. This exhibition, showcasing over 100 works including paintings, photographs, set designs, drawings, and graphic designs, offers a comprehensive look at the artist’s multidisciplinary approach across various media. Many of these pieces will be on public display for the first time since Schawinsky’s death in 1979, reviving interest in his work that has been largely inaccessible until recently. Born in Basel, Schawinsky was a pivotal figure at the Bauhaus, where he studied under prominent figures like Oskar Schlemmer, Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, and László Moholy-Nagy. He created numerous stage and costume designs, collages, and photographs, and pioneered the ‘Spectodrama’, a unique theatre form combining color, shape, movement, light, sound, words, pantomime, music, graphic art, and improvisation. Following Hitler’s rise in 1933, Schawinsky, being Jewish, emigrated to Italy and later to the USA in 1936. There, he taught at Black Mountain College, becoming a key figure in trans-Atlantic artistic exchange. His diverse work, marked by continuous experimentation, engaged with and influenced many 20th-century artistic movements, particularly through his innovative approach to performance art, which continues to inspire contemporary artists. Mudam’s exhibition aims to enhance recognition of Schawinsky, who contributed to two major 20th-century art schools – the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College – and promoted interdisciplinary dialogue that continues to shape art today. Schawinsky’s extensive body of work spans scenography, photography, graphic design, painting, collage, and typography, incorporating film and sound. His pioneering role in performance art resonates with Mudam’s program and contemporary artistic practices. The exhibition traces Schawinsky’s artistic journey from his early Bauhaus works, focusing on scenic space and the man-machine relationship, through his graphic and design work in Italy (1933-1936), to his theatrical experiments in the USA. At Black Mountain College, alongside Bauhaus alumni like Joseph and Anni Albers, he developed ‘Spectodrama’, merging classical theatre design with innovative concepts of space, form, language, music, movement, and color. His integration of technical effects and film onstage influenced later artists such as Merce Cunningham and John Cage. In 1938, Schawinsky moved to New York, working as a graphic designer and painting teacher at New York University and City College. During the early 1940s, he was involved in creating camouflage patterns for the U.S. Air Force and produced the Faces of War series (1942), machine-men figures reflecting his ambivalent views on war. The exhibition also highlights Schawinsky’s pictorial work from the 1940s onwards, incorporating performance and a process-based approach. In his later years, Schawinsky explored quantum physics theories in his Spheras series (1960s-1970s). Collaborating closely with the Estate of Xanti Schawinsky, Mudam’s exhibition features over 100 works spanning the artist’s diverse career. Bettina Steinbrück, Director of Mudam, comments: ‘The work of Schawinsky influenced a number of trends that are now at the heart of contemporary art, including performance, multi-media and cross-discipline art. In this way, he can be seen as an important reference for a new generation of artists and our understanding of the foundations of contemporary art. At Mudam, performance art is at the heart of our program and importantly, this exhibition connects to our ethos by presenting an artist who was part of the avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century and who contributed to shape what performance art is today. By inviting Monster Chetwynd to create an ambitious installation in response to Schawinsky, we also want to highlight the relevance of Schawinsky’s work for contemporary artists today. This corresponds to Mudam’s mission to approach art history from the perspective of the present.’ Monster Chetwynd’s Xanti Shenanigans In conjunction with Schawinsky’s retrospective, Mudam has commissioned British artist Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973, London) to create a large-scale installation for the museum’s foyer. Her ambitious project draws from Schawinsky’s ‘mobile theatre’ concept from his Bauhaus days, honoring his work and bringing it to life through performance. Despite their different historical contexts, both artists share a playful, cross-disciplinary, and experimental approach to visual arts. Chetwynd’s installation will facilitate a dialogue between Schawinsky’s modern stage design and contemporary performance art. Titled ‘Xanti Shenanigans’, Chetwynd’s installation adopts some of Schawinsky’s artistic principles and motifs, such as shapes from his costumes and stage sets. She also replicates Schawinsky’s ‘Track Paintings’ technique by driving a car over fabric strips. The installation features rail carts moving costumes, inspired by Schawinsky’s 1925 ‘Design for a Mobile Theater (Arena)’. On 11 July at 7.30 pm, Chetwynd will use the installation as a backdrop for a performance involving a dozen performers, drawing inspiration from TV dating shows.
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