Last week, the Galerie Gmurzynska opened the exhibition "Kurt: Schwitters: Merz" ("Merz" - as the author himself called the artistic approach he invented - approx. Archi.ru), timed to coincide with the centenary of Dadaism. She has collected over 70 different works of the German artist. The gallery space was completely transformed in accordance with the project of Zaha Hadid - the last in the life of a British architect. Hadid worked on the installation for a year and a half, but, alas, did not manage to bring it to life. Her team completed the work.
The hall, which displays the key works of each of Schwitters's creative periods, resembles a large cave, an iceberg and a temple at the same time. The inspiration came from Schwitters' installation Merzbau (1923-1937), a constantly changing combination of sculptures that occupied the entire area of the artist's studio. Hadid has incorporated artwork into the space as well as readymade furniture and architectural pieces. Here you can find undulating marble tables, modular seating and hybrid shelf systems that flow down and curve like melting ice. The resulting exposition is described by Zaha Hadid Architects as "a marriage of Hadid's designs and Schwitters' drawings and sculptures," forming an "evolving environment" in the gallery.
Seven years ago, the Gmuzhynska Gallery already hosted a bureau with a similar project: then Hadid, as a tribute to her other "teacher", Kazimir Malevich, built the gallery space according to the logic of Suprematism. Today's exhibition has become a natural continuation of it.
“The greatest influence on Zaha's architecture was made by the abstract art movements of the early 20th century, -
says Patrick Schumacher, director of Zaha Hadid Architects, who worked side by side with Zaha for 30 years. - In her "architectural vocabulary" you can find many signature elements that stem from Dadaism. And the idea of the value of chance and chaos comes straight from the experimental ideas of the avant-garde."
The exhibition will run from June 12 to September 30, in the same building that previously housed "Cabaret Voltaire" - the birthplace of Dadaism. This club was founded in 1916 by Hugo Ball.
