Alexander Rodchenko

The Russian avant-garde of the twentieth century is a unique phenomenon not only with respect to Soviet culture, but also in an international and historical perspective. The amazing creative energy developed by the artists of this great age is still providing nourishment for today’s artistic culture and it often inspire contemporary graphic and design. Aleksander Rodchenko (1891 – 1956), who was one of the main generators of creative ideas of the time, embodies the spirt of of the avant-garde. The exhibition presents more than 316 art works documenting the career of Rodchenko and it includes the creations born from collaborations with other artists, such as the poet Vladimir Majakovskij. On display are the famous advertising poster and the astonishing photomontages of political propaganda as well as the photographs taken from unexpected point-of-view in which Rodchenko documents Moscow in the 1920s, capturing everyday-life scenes and bold architectural views, military parades and sport events. Rodchenko looked at contemporary avant-gardes such as Futurism, Dadaism, neo-Plasticism and Suprematism in order to define the principle of his revolutionary aesthetics. His photomontages and posters evoke the dynamic forms of Futurism and make the most of the formal neo-Plastic and Suprematist simplification while exploiting the Dadaist taste for composition in order to obtain the maximum communication efficacy. Many of the expressive forms he experimented with are still in use today. Rodchenko introduced Constructivist ideology into photography: his style is characterized by diagonal compositions and unexpected and unusual views. These reflect the utopian desire to give a visual representation of the reality and life that the avant-garde tried to promote.