Women portrayed in various roles: an exhibition in Cottbus showcasing photos of women in East Germany, depicting victims, skilled workers, managers, and mothers.
Revisited: A Pensive Piece by Lutz Friedel: "Act of Washing, 1980"
The tiny frame cannot contain the enormity of this painting by Lutz Friedel. The space seems insufficient, mirroring the cramped zinc tub where a woman with a pageboy cut sits, washing herself with a cloth between her legs. The tight quarters evoke a sense of confinement, does she cringe at the touch? Her cheek rests on her knee, her eyes heavy with sadness, gazing downwards - onto the browning washcloth. The most unsettling detail is the vibrant red nail polish. What transpired since the polish was applied? What obscured gaze is upon her?
This masterpiece can be found at the Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, part of the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, home to over 45,000 objects - the largest collection of art from the GDR and subsequent traditions. The institution boasts approximately 24 exhibitions per year, held at its two locations in Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus. One of the recent exhibitions showcases a disarming self-portrait by Monika Geilsdorf from 1976 - another young woman with a similar hairstyle, also donning red nail polish - but there's a stark contrast! Her gaze, half-lidded, confronts the viewer, through slightly reflective yellow glasses. No smile betrays her, just a determined look. Her bare shoulders are adorned in a red sleeveless top, her fringe as relaxed as the cigarette she's just lit. The wedding ring, a mere detail. She's the boss. Who does she gaze upon?
The captivating mini-exhibition strives to delve into the complexities of "Indescribably Female," focusing on the depiction of femininity and women's lived realities in GDR art. The exhibition attempts to excavate the "tension fields between socialist equality policy and traditional role expectations." Two paintings from the exhibition serve as a divide: here, the melancholic, self-absorbed victim who longs to escape the gaze - there, the self-assured artist with easel and paint tubes, measuring up the viewer, perhaps assessing their worthiness to be painted as the opposite.
Socialists Come in all Forms
The ordered reality of an unfree society does not appear to offer a more restrictive or colorless image program than that of a bourgeois-individualistic world. The residents of the GDR were individuals, navigating their existence through relationships, needs, and happiness, transcending clichés and ideals of the socialist persona.
Visitors meander through the two rooms, curated by custodian Caroline Kühn, discovering new beginnings and leaps in the barely 100 works. Each image challenges the notion of gender equality in the GDR. Women, valued as productive forces in the national economy, achieved financial independence compared to West German women, but they remained shackled to household responsibilities, kitchen duties, children, and often their husbands' extramarital needs, creating a double burden. The more liberal abortion laws, of course, also proved practical for men.
The post-socialist spectator gains entry through the archetypes of intimate mother-child scenes, such as Wilhelm Lachnit's "Resting Mother with Child," painted a few years after the war, capturing a young, exhausted mother protectively sheltering a small, sleeping, golden creature. The affectionate series "Seeing Hands" by Kieu Minh Viet portrays a blind child reaching out to his mother, communicating through touch.
The Dour Young Socialist Barbara Hahn
The idealized representations are anything but inspiring, not only because of the apparent artistic apathy but because they seem like contrived images meant to conform to expectations from outside forces. Rudolf Graf's "Young Socialist Barbara Hahn" from 1971 is a prime example - the apathy reflected in Mrs. Hahn's sleeping expression seems to be the artist's doing. Similarly, the two rubble women of Rudolf Bergander from the 50s appear to be unwillingly included in the picture, like unwanted coat racks.
The melancholic tone of these works may be indistinguishable from the monotony of daily life - both bourgeois and socialist. This can be observed in a family portrait by Katja-Regina Staps, where a scowling father with a crooked collar appears irritated with his child, who is pinching her mother's chin - a Pietà of Sunday doldrums. Everybody looks miserable. At least the older daughter displays a hint of a smile, but she might derive pleasure from the thought of strangling the clearly unhappy-looking dog with the collar. The idea of going to the lake on a free day must have been someone's terrible idea. Let's hope Monday comes soon.
At first glance, "In the Café" by Herta Günther does not appear much cheerier. Her subjects, pale-faced with large noses, seem to be enjoying their coffee and cigarettes. Yet, a spark of stubbornness and defiance can be glimpsed, as seen in the equally serious-looking women of Clemens Gröszer ("Portrait A.P."), Ellen Fuhr ("My Beautiful Neighbors"), or the "Disco Chicks" by E.R.N.A - all from the mid-80s. It's clear how the fun is gradually suffocated, and freedom begins to take root.
Indescribably feminine. Until August 10th at the Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, Uferstraße/Am Amtsteich 15, Di.-So., 11-19 Uhr. More information available at www.blmk.de
This masterpiece, "Act of Washing, 1980" by Lutz Friedel, is housed at the Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, a museum that also accommodates home-and-garden artifacts as part of the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst. The home-and-garden collection consists of over 45,000 objects, making it the largest repository of art from the GDR and subsequent traditions. The museum hosts about 24 exhibitions annually in its locations in Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus, including the recent 'Indescribably Feminine' exhibition, which delves into the depiction of femininity in GDR art.
