Don't be alarmed by the dramatic music creeping into the Center Gallery at the Bowdoin Museum of Art—that's just part of the new exhibition entitled "Light and Shadow: The Aesthetics of German Expressionism."
"Light and Shadow," which opened in the Becker Gallery last week, examines the relationship between arts movements of the interwar period in Weimar Germany by juxtaposing several German expressionist prints and drawings with clips of three silent—that is, except for the music—films shown in a continuous loop. The stark black and white of both the mounted artwork and the film clips provide the gallery with a dark, yet intensely thoughtful energy that reflects the sentiments of their creators.
Chosen by Associate Professor of Film Studies Tricia Welsch with the help of Diana Tuite, the Andrew W. Mellon curatorial fellow, these artworks serve as an aid to Welsch's course, "German Expressionism and Its Legacy," an examination of art, politics and culture during the Weimar Republic. The exhibition illustrates both the artists' excitement and dread regarding the uncertain future that followed the horrors of World War I.
"It was a period of economic upheaval that manifested itself in artistic upheaval," said Welsch. "Some are satiric pieces...like black cartoons," about successful businessmen, she said, while some, such as "Unemployment," touch on the other end of the economic spectrum. All are wrought with emotion, abstraction, and distortion.
"The Becker Gallery always ends up being really interesting because it brings out collections that haven't been seen before," said Kate Herlihy, curatorial assistant to the museum.
In this case, the museum brought out prints and drawings from its collection, as it did not own any of the colorful paintings usually associated with German Expressionism. Colby College also lent two pieces to the show. The artworks were produced in a variety of media, including etching, drypoint, lithograph, ink, chalk, and aquatint. Some of the highlights include an original wood block used for woodcuts, a technique revived from medieval arts, and three gelatin silver prints of austere men and women blowing out the smoke of their visible cigarettes.
One artist, quoted in the exhibition's wall label, desired to create "brutality! Clarity that hurts!"
Similarly, the films on display—"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), "Nosferatu," (1922), the original Dracula, and "Metropolis" (1926)—show dark visions of urban life and humanity.
The exhibit is "not particularly subtle," Welsch said. "A lot is really terrifying."
Expressionist artists were highly interested in cinema of the time. So, too, have been viewers. According to security guard Gay Wagner, many people sit and stare for long periods of time, even watching the same film clip.
"One girl sat in there for about an hour!" she said.
The Becker Gallery often serves as a teaching forum for professors, enabling them to curate exhibitions while enhancing the learning experiences of their students.
"This was my first museum exhibit, and it won't be the last," said Welsch, describing the incredible experience she had collaborating with museum staff.
"Light and Shadow: The Aesthetics of German Expressionism" will be on view in the Becker Gallery of the Museum of Art until October 4.