ART-TRIBUTE:The Eighties A Decade of Extremes

The ‘80s are known as the era of the post-modern individualist. These are the years of Thatcher, Reagan, the young urban professionals (yuppies), computerisation and mediatisation. The era of AIDS, the Gang of Nivelles, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Anti-Fascist Front, the second punk generation, the No Future Generation. It was the decade of major protest marches against nuclear missiles and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: M HKA Archive

The redefinition of the relationship between the state and the market marks the beginning of the erosion of the welfare state. For the yuppies this meant the opportunity to generate enormous wealth through the newly created free market, but this period of post-industrialization was also marked by a deep recession, it is the time of the No Future Generation. The exhibition “The Eighties-A Decade of Extremes” brings into focus the polarization that existed between wealth and malaise in the then society. The exhibition PRESENTS works of the New York scene, which at that time was still the example for Europe: new media were used to address social problems, especially the gender issue. Along with this, there were the post-minimal installations with their elitist and cool aesthetic that dominated the European art scene, by artists ranging from Allan McCollum to Jan Vercruysse, and poppy installations by Jeff Koons and Wim Delvoye. Artists such as Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven and Danny Devos are shown as well, as exponents of the No Future Generation that saw artists use aggression and provocation both substantively and strategically to position themselves against tradition and political correctness. Aside from a variety of artworks, the exhibition also recalls social and political events through a variety of materials, ranging from drawings by ‘political cartoonist’ GAL, vinyl records, magazines and movie excerpts.

Info: M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Leuvenstraat 32, Antwerp, Duration: 17/6-18/9/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00-21:00, http://www.muhka.be