‘Postmodernism: Style and Subversion‘, a retrospective exhibition held at the V&A in London, explores the controversial art and design movement, Postmodernism and it’s influence on popular culture and it’s relationship to mass consumption. This is a thoroughly in-depth survey into the radical ideas, which were centred on a mixture of the theatrical and theoretical, and based on complexity and contradiction. The move away from Modernism, with it’s utopian visions of simplicity and clarity, formed the Postmodernism movement in the early 1970’s, which was consumed in vibrant colour, bold patterns, artificial effect, parody, wit and freedom. Artists, architects and designers had a new self-awareness about style, and were not afraid to show it; “Postmodernism lived up to it’s central aim- to replace a monolithic idiom with a plurality of competing ideas and styles”.
The exhibition is ordered chronologically starting with a series of rooms dedicated to architecture- the starting point of Postmodernism in the 1970s, with Italian architect’s such as Alessandro Mendini and Ettore Sottsass. There is a small enclave near the start of the exhibition, featuring collages and video clips by architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown, the authors of ‘Learning from Vegas’. The opening section also includes work by Aldo Rossi, Charles Moore and James Stirling, which combines motifs of the past with elements of the present. This is all set around the central feature of the gallery- a full-scale reconstruction of an architectural façade by Hans Hollein from the 1980 Venice Architecture Biennale.
The second part of the exhibition focuses on the proliferation of postmodernism through design, art, music, fashion, performance, and club culture during the 1980s. Ridley Scott’s 1982 film ‘Blade Runner’ was a postmodern dystopian inspiration to designers, and materials were salvaged and distressed to produce objects of urban apocalypse- Ron Arad created a music system out of reinforced concrete. The 1980s were seen as the ‘designer decade’ with glossy domestic products excelling in theatricality and exaggeration. These were delivered to the masses via magazines and publications such as Domus and by designer groups such as Studio Alchymia and Memphis. Postmodernism began to influence music and film, with performers such as Grace Jones and Leigh Bowery creating larger-than-life stage personas. The last part of the extensive exhibition examines the hyper-inflated commodity culture of the 1980s. Consumerism and excess were vital parts of Postmodernism; from Andy Warhol’s 1981 Dollar Sign paintings, to Karl Lagerfield’s reinvention of Chanel, to Mickey Mouse teapots for Disney. The exhibition concludes with art and design from the late 1980s, towards the possible end of Postmodernism, encouraging visitors to consider how this all effects the present day.
Images: Dezeen
