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Forced Journeys, was hosted by the Ben Uri in conjunction with
a new MA teaching module held during the spring
term 2009 at the Courtauld Institute, London, entitled Arts
in Exile in Britain 1933-45. The course is led by Dr Shulamith Behr from the Courtauld in
partnership with Sander L Gilman, distinguished Visiting
Professor from Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
The exhibition
was co-curated by Rachel Dickson and Sarah MacDougall who
have collaborated on the Ben Uri’s extensive and
groundbreaking series of exhibitions focusing on the
‘Whitechapel Boys’, most recently Whitechapel at
War: Isaac Rosenberg and his circle (2008).
Herman Fechenbach, Douglas,
Isle of Man
The exhibition
marked the first formal collaboration between the Ben Uri
and a post-graduate university course; previous
relationships with universities have included exhibition
study days held in conjunction with both Leeds and
Kingston Universities, and Ben Uri exhibitions have
toured to both the Newcastle and Leeds University
galleries.This joint venture was particularly significant
given the Courtauld’s role as one of the foremost art
history teaching institutions and the Ben Uri’s own
history in supporting and fostering immigrant artists
throughout the twentieth century.
Eva Frankfurther, The
Card Players
Drawing on
artists largely (though not exclusively) of German and
Austrian descent, but with roots from across Europe and
the Middle East, the exhibition comprised some 90
works, including painting, printmaking, ceramics,
photography, posters, sculpture and ephemera.
Margaret Marks, Asylum
Seeker
Core works were drawn from Ben Uri's own collection and from a
private collection courtesy of Dr Jutta Vinzent of
Birmingham University, co-author of Art &
Migration (Barber Institute, 2005).
The
core artists were Jussuf Abbo, Jack Bilbo, Martin Bloch,
Jacob Bornfriend, Hugo Dachinger, Hans Feibusch, Eva
Frankfurther, Erich Kahn, Margaret Marks, Ludwig and
Else Meidner, Walter Nessler, and Fred Uhlman.
Kurt Schwitters, Portrait
of Fred Uhlman
A small number
of works by additional artistsfrom outside sources,
including Ernst Eisenmayer, Hermann Fechenbach, Henry
Inlander, Pamina Liebert-Mahrenholz, Georg Mayer-Marton,
Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, Hans Schleger ('Zero'),
Kurt Schwitters, Helmuth Weissenborn and Erich Wolfsfeld
were selected, in order to support appropriate
sub-themes and a range of media and visual interest.
These themes
included: the art of internment; post-internment art;
contributions to British art schools; representations of
the ‘other’ by the ‘other’; and the shaping of
the art market and development of graphic design in
mid-century Britain.
The additional
loans were drawn from The Fitzwilliam Museum,
Cambridge, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery,
Stoke-on-Trent, London Transport Museum, private
collections, and the artists’ families. The Imperial
War Museum and the Manx Museum, Isle of Man also
provided invaluable assistance.
A
fully-illustrated colour catalogue was published to
accompany the exhibition with an introduction by Dr Behr
and Professor Gilman. Essay contributors include:
Professor Fran Lloyd (Kingston University), Dr. Jutta
Vinzent (Birmingham University), Dr Jonathan Black
(Kingston University) and Ulrike Smalley (Imperial War
Museum) and the curators.
PRESS COVERAGE
(click for link):
"Ben Uri's fine gathering of emigre works" Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times
"Another of Ben Uri's remarkable survey shows" Andrew Lambirth, The Spectator
"The recreation of an historic show that never happened" John-Paul Stonard, The Burlington Magazine
Louise Jury, The Evening
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