Coming of age during the rise of capitalism, 22 young artists challenge
preconceptions of Central and Eastern Europe as a historical, social and
political monolith.
EDMONTON, AB – REARVIEW MIRROR: New Art from Central and Eastern Europe opens
January 28 – April 29, 2012 at the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA).
This highly-anticipated exhibition features the work of 22 contemporary artists from 11 different
Eastern European countries, whose work references the specific social and political histories of
their respective homelands. Born mostly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the artists comment
on the political and social changes that have come to pass following the fall of the Berlin Wall and
the end of the socialist period of their parents’ generation. In doing so they dismantle stereotypical
notions of Eastern Europe, and question the perception of it as being socially and culturally
unified.
Instead, the artists in REARVIEW MIRROR draw upon a variety of sources, their different
histories, geographies and cultures, as a means to reflect on the past but also comprehend the
present. The conceptualization of political and social change is an integral theme related to the
works presented in the exhibition.
This exhibition is guest-curated for the AGA by internationally-acclaimed curator, Christopher
Eamon and produced in partnership with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto.
Presented in Edmonton by Enbridge.