Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World – Tate Modern ****

Founder of the De Stijl art movement and magazine, Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) is a key figure of Modernism and the avant-garde and, surprisingly, this is the first major exhibition in the UK to be devoted to him.

Paving the way for Dadaism, van Doesburg uses a strict method of abstraction in his works which is underpinned by a rigorous theoretical system. The artworks, posters, furniture, videos and sculptures displayed here are worthwhile because of the illuminating light they shed on the political and philosophical climate of Europe in the 1920s, rather than for their artistic merit alone. The repetitive geometry of black vertical and horizontal lines with primary-coloured cubes is what is most recognisable about the De Stijl movement, and many of the lesser artists represented here seem to have been producing derivative works in the same style. But it is the application of this style to exquisite pieces of furniture and architecture which reveals that there is more to this movement that a slavish adherence to minimalistic form; hence the subtitle of this exhibition, ‘Constructing a New World’.

The De Stijl art movement was a collective enterprise which infiltrated design on a functional level and on a grand scale and this is expertly represented here. After the devastation inflicted by the Great War, van Doesburg and his contemporaries turned to formlessness and extreme abstraction to create a utopian future where distinctive colour and form was abandoned for the perfection of the straight line. Take the opportunity to see these works before the exhibition ends in May because you will be rewarded with a much richer experience than the simplicity of the works themselves suggest.

And if you visit this exhibition it is worthwhile catching the excellent Gorky Retrospective…

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Decode: Digital Design Sensations – V&A Musuem **

An intriguing concept which failed in the execution.The notion of digital artworks, the inventive and creative application of functional computer programming, is explored through three key themes: Code, Network and Interactivity. But this exhibition is small and overcrowded with a very narrow two-way corridor displaying small-screen exhibits on both sides leading into one large chamber housing the interactive installations. This made the Code section which held the most interesting works almost impossible to see let alone enjoy and appreciate. These small and understated creations were fascinating and even unexpectedly beautiful showing that abstract art doesn’t need to be static or non-referential; Stockspace (Marius Watz) uses statistical data to create graphic visual patterns which change and adapt in response to fluctuations in the stock market as they happen. The collaborative works in Network, such as the Exquisite Clock (Fabrica), went someway to redeem technology from the charge that it is isolating and robotic by showing that technology allows artistic relationships and connections on a global scale.

The Interactivity theme is the one that seems to be drawing in the crowds; visiting on a Sunday, the whole day’s ticket allocation was sold-out by 3.00pm. Unfortunately the computerised blinking eye, which has been the image adorning all promotional material, is now defunct and has been removed from the exhibition. Children and adults alike were marvelling at the rather basic and unoriginal concept of a video camera recording their image and then projecting it on a screen along with other videos captured throughout the day. The only theme of Interactivity seemed to be the mirroring of the onlooker, the reflection of the physical world through the digital eye. A giant mirror, which only slowly reveals the reflected image of the figure that stands patiently in front of it, superimposing the image on the one captured previously, Venetian Mirror (Fabrica) is the least subtle exploration of this theme but at least it is honest in its purpose. As appealing as this may be to our innate vanity, I hope this endless and boring reflection of the viewing-subject isn’t the future for art, digital or otherwise.

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