Sonia Delaunay / Andrea Zittel: Living Abstraction

Maison Sonia and Personal Patterns are part of the HLHE Dialogue exhibition series, which showcases the art of Sonia Delaunay and Andrea Zittel under the Leitmotif Living Abstraction. According to the museum director Katia Baudin, who initiated this dual exhibition, “the neighboring modernist villas by Mies van der Rohe serve as the ideal backdrop and catalyst for a fruitful encounter between two visionary female artistic positions who have striven to break down the barriers separating art and everyday life, using the language of abstraction to examine and respond to societal changes.”

Maison Sonia in Haus Lange
In 1923 the visionary painter and designer Sonia Delaunay (Odessa 1885–1979, Paris) received her first commission from a textile manufacturer in Lyon, which changed her artistic career in a remarkable way. From that point on, she designed patterned fabrics for fashion and interior design on a grand scale, which helped her to achieve international success—the Atelier Simultané was born. The point of departure for the exhibition is a spectacular group of textile designs by the artist, purchased by the Kunstmuseen Krefeld 2019. The exhibition explores Sonia Delaunay’s rich oeuvre of applied art, with particular attention to the origins and significance of the concept of Simultané, her workshop, her talents as a networker and businesswoman, her industrial collaborations, and her sheer endless media diversity from the 1910s to the 1970s. It regroups an interdisciplinary array of works—including key international loans—ranging from fashion, textiles, furniture, advertising, and book design to film and photography.

A major publication Maison Sonia Delaunay is published by Hatje Cantz in separate German and English editions in conjunction with the exhibition. Contributions by internationally renowned scholars such as Pascal Rousseau (Sorbonne University, Paris), Marketa Uhlirova (Central Saint-Martins, London), and Margarete Zimmermann (FU Berlin, former director of the Center for French Studies) shed light on hitherto unexplored aspects of Sonia Delaunay’s life and work.

Andrea Zittel: Personal Patterns in Haus Esters
As one of the most important artists of her generation Andrea Zittel (b. 1965, Escondido, CA, US) has redefined sculpture as part of everyday life. In her first solo exhibition in Germany in 20 years the artist takes over Haus Esters. Since the 1990s, Zittel has been exploring the space around her in “test sites”—first in the urban context of New York City and later in the California desert with her self-designed property A-Z West. She is interested in human needs, which are particularly reflected in design. Influenced by the avant-gardes of the early twentieth century, Zittel develops simple, geometric, and futuristic furniture, fashion, and architecture. With her reduced works, composed primarily of basic geometric forms, she creates a synthesis between art, design, and architecture. Art and everyday life, artist, entrepreneur, and private individual become one. Her conceptual as well as experimental works are grounded in her interest in basic human needs, which are, above all, reflected in spatial designs and shape them. Zittel’s visual as well as personal patterns now meet Mies van der Rohe’s built utopia of a new life. International loans and works tailored specifically to the spaces of the house show how her works oscillate between function and abstraction. In this way, Zittel opens new perspectives onto ways of life that seem self-evident—but are not necessarily so.

A publication in German and English is being produced to accompany the exhibition.

Artistic Direction, Living Abstraction: Katia Baudin, Director Kunstmuseen Krefeld

Curators, Maison Sonia: Waleria Dorogova, Katia Baudin

Curator, Andrea Zittel: Juliane Duft

Kunstmuseen Krefeld is a cultural institution of the city of Krefeld.