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Avant-garde and Aviation
Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre
2014
2014
The exhibition The Avant-garde and Aviation explored the productive and intense dialogue between science, technology, and art that unfolded in the early 20th century. In the Soviet avant-garde, aviation emerged as a central theme. The conquest of space and the expansion of human and technological boundaries through flight echoed deeply in the forms, ideas, texts, and visual language of the time.
The exhibition featured works by key figures of the avant-garde—Alexander Labas, Alexander Rodchenko, Nikolai Suetin, Emmanuil Evzerikhin, Lev Khidekel, Alexander and Viktor Vesnin, Georgy Krutikov, Vera Ermolaeva, Alexander Tyshler, Vasily Kuptsov, Varvara Stepanova, Alexander Deineka, Valery Alfeevsky, among many others—alongside material artifacts of the era: aviation relics, historical objects, everyday items, as well as films and music connected to or inspired by the culture of flight.
The exhibition was divided into three thematic sections:
• Space: perspectives, speed, movement, and open horizons as explored in Suprematist works, avant-garde graphics and photography, and art from the 1920s. This section also featured texts and photographs by the cosmist philosopher Nikolai Fedorov and drawings by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, highlighting the metaphysical dimensions of flight and cosmic exploration.
• Machine: the aestheticization of the airplane and airship, presented through architectural projects, magazine collages, graphic design, and original aircraft components and models that had inspired artists. The section on airship construction included Tsiolkovsky’s early prototypes of the zeppelin and a model of his metallic folded envelope.
• Hero: the final section focused on the construction of the pilot’s image as a central figure in the Soviet pantheon of the 1930s. The aviator appeared everywhere—from monumental paintings and photographs to candy wrappers and board games. This section also featured aviation "relics": personal items belonging to famed pilots Gromov, Chkalov, and Kokkinaki.
Alongside heroic imagery, the exhibition addressed the darker side of the aviation myth, including major disasters such as the crash of the stratospheric balloon Osoviakhim-1 and the destruction of the giant aircraft named after Maxim Gorky.
The exhibition featured works by key figures of the avant-garde—Alexander Labas, Alexander Rodchenko, Nikolai Suetin, Emmanuil Evzerikhin, Lev Khidekel, Alexander and Viktor Vesnin, Georgy Krutikov, Vera Ermolaeva, Alexander Tyshler, Vasily Kuptsov, Varvara Stepanova, Alexander Deineka, Valery Alfeevsky, among many others—alongside material artifacts of the era: aviation relics, historical objects, everyday items, as well as films and music connected to or inspired by the culture of flight.
The exhibition was divided into three thematic sections:
• Space: perspectives, speed, movement, and open horizons as explored in Suprematist works, avant-garde graphics and photography, and art from the 1920s. This section also featured texts and photographs by the cosmist philosopher Nikolai Fedorov and drawings by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, highlighting the metaphysical dimensions of flight and cosmic exploration.
• Machine: the aestheticization of the airplane and airship, presented through architectural projects, magazine collages, graphic design, and original aircraft components and models that had inspired artists. The section on airship construction included Tsiolkovsky’s early prototypes of the zeppelin and a model of his metallic folded envelope.
• Hero: the final section focused on the construction of the pilot’s image as a central figure in the Soviet pantheon of the 1930s. The aviator appeared everywhere—from monumental paintings and photographs to candy wrappers and board games. This section also featured aviation "relics": personal items belonging to famed pilots Gromov, Chkalov, and Kokkinaki.
Alongside heroic imagery, the exhibition addressed the darker side of the aviation myth, including major disasters such as the crash of the stratospheric balloon Osoviakhim-1 and the destruction of the giant aircraft named after Maxim Gorky.
Curator
Aleksandra Selivanova
Exhibition Architecture
Dina Karaman
Coordinator
Evgenia Khaet
Aleksandra Selivanova
Exhibition Architecture
Dina Karaman
Coordinator
Evgenia Khaet
