Description
This vibrant history of the former German Democratic Republic's public art reveals a barely known but visually and theoretically rich cultural legacy. Picturing Socialism shows how works of art and design in the urban spaces of East Germany were the site of a sustained struggle between practitioners, critics and political leaders. This was not the oft-assumed conflict between artistic freedom and political dogma; at stake was the self-identity of the republic as socialist. Art and its relationship to architecture functioned as the testing ground for East Germany's relationship to socialist realism and modernism against the backdrop of Cold War competition from the neighbouring Federal Republic. Picturing Socialism makes a timely contribution to the recent groundswell of interest in the legacy of East Germany's art and architecture, illuminating and elucidating the public art which has been lost or remains under threat since unification in 1990.
The first study to investigate the meaning and function of works of art and design in East German public spaces.
About the Author
J.R. Jenkins is a design historian and writer on graphic design and teaches design contexts at Falmouth University, UK.
Reviews
In this lavishly illustrated account J. R. Jenkins shows how public art, craft, design and architecture became key elements in the socialist imaginary. Picturing Socialism takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the former East Germany: from steel and coal cities, to science and technology centres and ports. Containing an extraordinary visual record of many rapidly vanishing works of art, the book draws on fascinating interviews and contemporary debates. Picturing Socialism is an important and timely addition to studies of Cold War history and politics. -- Harriet Atkinson, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities, University of Brighton, UK
J. R. Jenkins' Picturing Socialism explores the placement and legacy of public art in the GDR from post-war re-construction through to the 1990s. Spanning the mid-century to the late modern, Jenkins deftly surveys and evaluates the forms, functions and evolving ideological imperatives which drove these very public genres. Cogently authored and contextualized, this well illustrated and incisively researched publication looks set to become a benchmark intervention in the emerging history of the GDR's public art and design aesthetic. -- Grant Pooke, Senior Lecturer, History of Art, University of Kent, UK
Picturing Socialism fills a gap in twentieth-century design history by focusing on how socialist realism in East Germany used urban places as a canvas to depict communal values. For those interested in the graphic image of the twenty-first century city, this book provides valuable insight into the emergence of Complex Environmental Design in the former German Democratic Republic. -- Robert Harland, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Graphic Communication and Illustration, Loughborough University, UK
An enlightening analysis of the complex relation between socialist politics and the steelworker reliefs, farm girl paintings, cosmonaut mosaics, dandelion-shaped sprinklers and other artwork adorning East German buildings -- Florian Urban, Professor and Head of Architectural History and Urban Studies, Glasgow School of Art, UK
J. R. Jenkins presents a magnificent study: this well-informed and intelligent book reconstructs the strategic importance of architecture-related art in shaping the built environment of the GDR. For the three historical phases of development - Reconstruction 1949-1963, Socialist Modernism 1959-1973 and the transition to Postmodernism 1973-1990 - she uses exemplary works of art to trace both the changing building tasks and the relationships between clients, architects and artists, as well as the conceptual background of their respective interactions... The author's double perspective - as a student in Berlin in 1990, she witnessed the disappearance and general devaluation of East German art in the public consciousness, now as an academic she observes the new international appreciation of the aesthetic culture of socialism - saves her from the old Cold War concept of Western modernism and conveys this unique cultural heritage to us anew with regard to a decolonised, gendered and globalised modernism. -- Thomas Flierl, Architectural Historian and Cultural Critic, Germany
Book Information
ISBN 9781350067141
Author J. R. Jenkins
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 524g
The first study to investigate the meaning and function of works of art and design in East German public spaces.
About the Author
J.R. Jenkins is a design historian and writer on graphic design and teaches design contexts at Falmouth University, UK.
Reviews
In this lavishly illustrated account J. R. Jenkins shows how public art, craft, design and architecture became key elements in the socialist imaginary. Picturing Socialism takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the former East Germany: from steel and coal cities, to science and technology centres and ports. Containing an extraordinary visual record of many rapidly vanishing works of art, the book draws on fascinating interviews and contemporary debates. Picturing Socialism is an important and timely addition to studies of Cold War history and politics. -- Harriet Atkinson, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities, University of Brighton, UK
J. R. Jenkins' Picturing Socialism explores the placement and legacy of public art in the GDR from post-war re-construction through to the 1990s. Spanning the mid-century to the late modern, Jenkins deftly surveys and evaluates the forms, functions and evolving ideological imperatives which drove these very public genres. Cogently authored and contextualized, this well illustrated and incisively researched publication looks set to become a benchmark intervention in the emerging history of the GDR's public art and design aesthetic. -- Grant Pooke, Senior Lecturer, History of Art, University of Kent, UK
Picturing Socialism fills a gap in twentieth-century design history by focusing on how socialist realism in East Germany used urban places as a canvas to depict communal values. For those interested in the graphic image of the twenty-first century city, this book provides valuable insight into the emergence of Complex Environmental Design in the former German Democratic Republic. -- Robert Harland, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Graphic Communication and Illustration, Loughborough University, UK
An enlightening analysis of the complex relation between socialist politics and the steelworker reliefs, farm girl paintings, cosmonaut mosaics, dandelion-shaped sprinklers and other artwork adorning East German buildings -- Florian Urban, Professor and Head of Architectural History and Urban Studies, Glasgow School of Art, UK
J. R. Jenkins presents a magnificent study: this well-informed and intelligent book reconstructs the strategic importance of architecture-related art in shaping the built environment of the GDR. For the three historical phases of development - Reconstruction 1949-1963, Socialist Modernism 1959-1973 and the transition to Postmodernism 1973-1990 - she uses exemplary works of art to trace both the changing building tasks and the relationships between clients, architects and artists, as well as the conceptual background of their respective interactions... The author's double perspective - as a student in Berlin in 1990, she witnessed the disappearance and general devaluation of East German art in the public consciousness, now as an academic she observes the new international appreciation of the aesthetic culture of socialism - saves her from the old Cold War concept of Western modernism and conveys this unique cultural heritage to us anew with regard to a decolonised, gendered and globalised modernism. -- Thomas Flierl, Architectural Historian and Cultural Critic, Germany
Book Information
ISBN 9781350067141
Author J. R. Jenkins
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 524g
