A Self-Evident Truth
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“For milk to become yogurt, it needs culture.”
—Willem de Kooning
In Germany, under Hitler’s regime, artistic expression was banished as a form of Bolshevism. In Russia, under Stalin, it was denounced as “bourgeoius cosmopolitanism”. In mid-50s America, Abstract Expressionists met with aggressive censorship by members of the House Un-American Activities Committee. More recently, in October of 1999, Rudy Giuliani threatened to cut off city funding for the Brooklyn Museum because he deemed a painting in one of its shows to be “offensive.” And last month, Governor George Pataki issued highly publicized threats against the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center for their display of “anti-American art.”
History has not been kind to those who attack the creative spirit. Nor should it be. Freedom of expression is our birthright as Americans. And so we dedicate this issue to all our comrades in this genuinely patriotic “war for freedom.” All of us here at the Rail wish you a great summer!
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Thoughts on Mies’s Lemke House: Architecture—Feminism—Philosophy
by Joseph MasheckOCT 2018 | 1 by 1
The Lemke House, built between 1932 – 33 for Karl and Martha Lemke, who had no children, on a pair of lots in the Berlin suburb of Hohenschönhausen (now Berlin-Lichtenberg), is modest. It’s the last house that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe built in Germany, before closing the Bauhaus, owing to Hitler, and moving to Chicago. Karl Lemke, who ran a graphic arts business that catered to the art world, was a friend of the architect. That this work entailed a great deal of thought on Mies’s part is attested to by a huge quantity of preliminary drawings, starting from much more ambitious ideas.3 The economy was taking its toll; yet something excellent was envisioned. Two significant features of the project do not seem acknowledged, however: the role of a woman designer, and the fact that the house, small as it is, is an extraordinary example of the influence on Mies of his most admired living philosopher, Romano Guardini.
Sound Explorers: Sound House and This is the Color Described by the Time
by Andi StoverFEB 2018 | Theater
This month, two new exciting productions, Sound House by Stephanie Fleischmann and This is the Color Described by the Time, conceived and directed by Lily Whitsitt, radically reimagine theater making, with symphonic results.
Magic Realism: Art in Weimar Germany 1919 – 1933
by Daniel PatemanFEB 2019 | ArtSeen
Commemorating the centenary of the armistice of the First World War, the Tate Modern presents Magic Realism: Art in Weimar Germany 1919 – 1933. Comprised substantially of loans from The George Economou Collection, the show attempts to revive the overlooked artistic term Magic Realism, while also exploring the changing fortunes of the short-lived Weimar Republic.
NINA CHANEL ABNEY:
Safe House/Seized the Imagination
by Will Whitney
DEC 17-JAN 18 | ArtSeen
The title of Nina Chanel Abney’s exhibition at Mary Boone, Safe House, caught my attention almost instantly. In such politically charged times, not making a statement is often a statement in itself.
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