More than 50 expressionist artworks from Netherlands’s Cobra Museum of Modern Art will be displayed at the Sharjah Art Museum tonight.
The travelling avant-garde exhibition, Cobra: 1000 Days of Free Art, is the result of a two-year collaboration between the Sharjah Art Museum and the Cobra Museum of Modern Art, which is dedicated to the Cobra art movement.
Founded in Paris in 1948, Cobra lasted less than three years – 1,000 days to be precise – but continues to have an impact on the global art landscape today. The movement was led by six artists dedicated to “free art”, which involved painting mostly semi-abstract pieces using rough brushstrokes and vivid colours, often depicting distorted human figures.
The movement
Cobra – an acronym for the three capital cities where the artists lived and worked – Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br) and Amsterdam (A) – quickly spread and, though short-lived, saw artists, musicians, poets and philosophers coming together for several exhibitions of avant-garde art.
It was popular enough for the Cobra Museum of Modern Art to spring up on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Over the past few years, the museum has hosted Cobra Global, a travelling art show of major works from different Cobra collections, which was also shown in the Middle East – Istanbul in 2012 and Muscat this year.
The movement, with its spontaneous style and philosophy, has had an enormous impact on the development of post-war art in Europe, and is said to be the precursor to the American movement of action painting, which emerged soon after Cobra, with painters such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning eschewing all formality of construction and spontaneously dribbling, splashing or smearing paint onto the canvas.
The artists
The Sharjah exhibition includes works by four founding Dutch artists who were selected for their wide range in media and form.
Constant Nieuwenhuys was lauded for his experimental approach and vision for a better modern world. His artwork Two Birds is one of the most famous pieces going on display at the show.
Also on show are Karel Appel's Women, Children, Animals and Le Regard. Appel kick-started the movement in Amsterdam by placing one of his paintings in the centre of town, then moved the group to Paris after the Dutch objected to the bold artwork.
Also being exhibited is Figure with Black Dot in the Centre by the poet Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk, known for producing pieces that reflected a pessimistic outlook on the future of Europe after the Second World War.
Don't miss Eugene Brands's Girl With Violin, which depicts a woman balancing the musical instrument on her head. The surreal painting was inspired by children's drawings and embodies the movement's manifesto: a piece of art should not be structured, but reflect the artist's emotional experience.
The appeal
Alya Al Mulla, curator for the Sharjah Art Museum, expects the exhibition to be a hit with a variety of audiences. “We try to diversify our programme through different shows so there is something for everyone,” she says. “The works in this exhibition are different, they are spontaneous and exciting, and at the same time offer an educational platform so visitors can learn about the movement.
“Collaborations such as these, especially with a museum of such calibre, are of great value to us as an institution and we hope this is reflected in the quality of the presentation.”
Katja Weitering, artistic director at Cobra Museum of Modern Art, says Sharjah was a natural choice of venue. “The emirate pairs a rich cultural history with an exciting platform for the exchange of perspectives on modern and contemporary art.”
• Cobra: 1000 Days of Free Art runs from today until November 20 at Sharjah Art Museum. Visit www.sharjahmuseums.ae for more details
aseaman@thenational.ae
