Is there any Hope for Optimistic Art

Is there any Hope for Optimistic Art?

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, […] The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

Barack Obama, Inauguration speech, 2009

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has urged for a new ideology – optimism. These thoughts have also been seen occur within the art world; for example at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. The curator, Daniel Birnbaum, has on several occasions turned against dystopian statements such as “art is dead”, and he saw the optimistic theme of his exhibition as a starting point for something new. The question arises: Is the world facing a new ideology? And if this new ideology is “optimism”, what affect will it have on contemporary art?

Taking on optimism is not an easy task for the art world. In fact, one of the most common standpoints among artists during the last decades has been based on a social critique, i.e. pointing out injustices. Furthermore, artists’ critical position is actually one of the key elements of art, and is mostly regarded as an artistic quality.

Most previous attempts of making “optimistic art” have resulted in kitsch or totalitarianism, and been linked to ideology and nationality. Within the avant-garde, art has often aimed to lead the people to the Promised Land. Most of the Russian avant-garde supported the revolution, and in the 1960’s and -70’s, a majority of artists in Western Europe and the US supported the radical political movements.

Still, many artists approach the very practice of art from an optimistic point of view. Frank Auerbach has said: ”I’m hoping to make a new thing for the world that remains in the mind like a new species of living thing", Sean Scully recently claimed that “optimism is the only path”, and Artur Zmijewski declared at an artist’s talk at Kalmar Konstmuseum that he believes that art has the power to change the world.

The exhibition Is there any Hope for an Optimistic Art? examines the notion of optimism from different angles and the possibilities of optimistic art based on different artistic position of young artists.

Is there any Hope for Optimistic Art? is an exhibition within the Qui Vive? Biennale, 2010. www.youngart.ru

Is there any Hope for Optimistic Art?
Kuratoren: Martin Schibli, Daria Pyrkina, Daria Kamyshnikova

Künstler: Maria Anwander, Conny Blom, Natalia Dyu, Klas Eriksson, Ivan Galuzin, Zeren Goktan, Oscar Guermouche & Lise Haurum Christensen, Karin Hasselberg, Elin Magnusson, Carlos Motta, Marina Naprushkina, Max Ockborn, Nina Slejko, Kristian Skylstad, Sören Thilo Funder, Rasmus West