Contemporary Central European Art [Volume: 7(1988), pp. 138-154]

CENTRAL EUROPEAN ART
153
works themselves did not in the main betray anxiety as much as they testified to the conditions of human beings who endure such conditions with
dignity and courage. Not only were there few howls of anguish in this
exhibition and no self-pity but there were no private myths or scenarios
of morbidly intimate fantasy. If one wants to use the word "myth" here,
then one will encounter "myth" that has the weight and density of centuries
and peoples, "myth" formidable in its familiarity and immediacy. Is it only
wishful thinking that suggests that much of that force may be passed on
to the viewer? That, alerted by the multiple anxieties generated by this
exhibition, the viewer is not left stranded, abandoned?
Although there could be a reservation or two about the effectiveness
of Gutfreund's Anxiety as the exhibition's herald, there would surely be
many, many more about any officially designated valedictorian. Nevertheless, I should like to nominate, for admittedly personal reasons, Gologorski's
sackcloth silhouette. Its challenge was clear and evident but somehow
jaunty and plucky. Little man what now? Well, in my case in front of this
piece I recalled an animated cartoon from my childhood, back in the socalled depression '30s. I saw the cartoon in a small neighborhood cinema
in Detroit. To be honest, what I remember might just be imagined, a false
memory inspired by the exhibition. Anyway, true or false, I am convinced
that this "memory" said something about the expressive core of the entire
exhibition. The cartoon was about a little man flattened by a steamroller.
But he does not die. He jumps up only to be knocked down and flattened
by another steamroller. He is flatter but seems larger. This happens again
and again. Each time he jumps up with more energy, flatter but larger.
Finally he is so flat that when he turns sideways he disappears. But when
he faces us he is as large as a house. A furious stream of traffic now rushes
at him. This time, however, he is not knocked down. Silhouetted against
the sky he stands his ground while machines bounce off him like insects.
NOTES
1. The exhibition was on view at the University of Michigan's Rackham Gallery
in 1987 from October 4 to 17. It was collected and organized by Dr. Meda Mladek
of Washington, D.C. and Dr. Dieter Ronte, Director of the Museum of Modern Art.
Vienna. A similar exhibition, which included many of the same artists plus several
Austrians, appeared in Vienna at the Museum of Modem Art. In 1988 this exhibition
has been on display at the Hirschhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. Called Expressiv,
it was also organized by Dr. Mladek and Dr. Ronte.
2. The catalog introduction for Anxiety's sister show, Expressiv, does indeed
propose as one of its purposes the investigation of the "problematic of Central Europe"
and cites that as a reason for not putting works together into national groups. It remains to be seen whether a distinct Kunstwollen, unique to regions between "East
and West," can be convincingly demonstrated in this fashion. Whatever the rationale,
Marian Gologorski, Trash Cans (1981)
< --- —