Pop art became a significant feature in the art community in the 20th century and it’s influence and enduring legacy can still be felt today. While a lot of people might think that it had it’s origins in Andy Warhol or Richard Hamilton, it actually goes back a lot further than that and the upcoming Hannah Höch exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London celebrates one of its early innovators.
Hannah Höch came to prominence as a key figure of the Berlin Dada movement combing pioneering collage with avante-garde concepts and the principles of Dada. Her collages were constructed from the cuttings of popular magazines, illustrated journals and fashion publications of the time to create funny and visually impactful critiques on society. With WW1 just over and the beginning rumblings of what was to come in Germany, her work had a lot satirise, while retaining an element of beauty that belies the anti-art credentials of the Dada movement.
Dada rejected the misguided “logic” behind the First World War in favour of a less rational, more intuitive approach to ideas and art, which is at the core of Höch’s experimental and probing style. It’s a movement that had its origins in Central Europe, but which also took hold in the States and went on to influence pop art throughout the decades. It’s anti-bourgeois and anti-art ethos made it the art of the people and the exhibition gives an impressive review of one of its most influential contributors.
More than 100 items have been brought together for the retrospective, combining a significant number of international collections to complete the exhibition, including collages, woodcuts, watercolours and photomontages. It will include notable works like Staatshäupter (Heads of State) (1918-20), Flucht (Flight) (1931) and Hochfinanz (High Finance) (1923), but in total it spans 60 years of art from her early fashion influenced collages in the 1910s through the height of Dadaism in the 30s and her later work on the consumer culture in the 50s and 60s.
The Hannah Höch exhibition opens at the Whitechapel Gallery on the 15th January 2014, making it one of next years must see art retrospectives, running through until the 23rd March 2014. Ticket prices are £9.95 for standard admission and £7.95 concessions, which includes a Gift Aid donation. Without the donation standard admission is £8.95 and £6.95 concessions.
Galleries 1, 8 and 9 (the Victor Petitgas Gallery) will house the retrospective display. The image above is our homage to Hannah Höch’s Kleine Sonne (Little Sun), 1969, collage.
