Rudolf Steiner and Contemporary Art

The DOX Centre for Contemporary Art is presenting a modified version of the exhibition Rudolf Steiner and Contemporary Art, first held at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg 13 May – 3 October 2010 and at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart 5 February – 22 May 2011. The exhibition intends to convey to the viewer the world of Rudolf Steiner’s universalist ideas by means of a selection of his drawings, as well as through the work of contemporary artists including Joseph Beuys, Mario Merz, Karel Malich, Giuseppe Penone, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Tony Cragg, Helmut Federle, Carsten Nicolai, Meris Angioletti, Jan Albers, Manuel Graf and Simon Dybbroe Moller. The exhibition highlights the importance of the quest for spiritual meaning in a world in which systems both economic and ecological are under long-term threat. Steiner’s universalist worldview is especially stimulating in this respect. The project, involving over 70 exhibits, is an intersection at which artists who have hitherto developed their work independently of an anthroposophical context may meet. It is not a display of the artistic outcomes of Steiner’s influence, but rather facilitates interpretation of this extraordinary figure in a new manner.
In both German institutions the exhibition was supplemented with a display prepared by the Vitra museum, dedicated to Steiner’s activities in the spheres of architecture, design and spiritual inspiration. (This project will be presented at the MAK Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, in parallel with the Prague exhibition.)