Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) is one of the great figures of early 20th-century avant-garde art, and also one of its most versatile practitioners. Half a century after his death, The Hayward presents the first major exhibition in the UK of Rodchenko's photographs, featuring some 120 prints and photomontages, as well as poster and magazine designs.
The exhibition at Southbank Centre, London traces the development of Rodchenko's photography over two decades from the early 1920s, a period when he revolutionised the medium by pioneering a new vocabulary of bold and unusual camera positions, severe foreshortenings of perspective, and surprising close-ups.
In the years following the Russian Revolution, Rodchenko gained an international reputation as a painter, sculptor and graphic artist. The exhibition starts in the early 1920s, at the point when Rodchenko rejected the traditional mediums of painting and sculpture, and devoted himself exclusively to photography, convinced that it would become the artistic medium of his era and one capable of addressing mass audiences.
Rodchenko's photography balanced artistic concerns with his interest in the social and political life of the Soviet Union. Whether making individual portraits, studies of modern architecture and industry, or pictures of mass demonstrations and entertainments, Rodchenko infused his images with an unexpected and dynamic view point which inspired his contemporaries and continues to influence photographers working today. Applying the principles of Constructivism to photography, Rodchenko employed oblique angles and used bird's eye and worm's eye points of view to make buildings, people and machines look like abstract compositions.
Rodchenko influenced not only photography; much of 20th century design is indebted to his radical approach to graphic design, typography and advertising. His designs for magazines, book covers and film posters, often created in collaboration with the poet and hero of the Revolution, Vladimir Mayakovsky, brought a bold and innovative approach.
Highlights of the exhibition include the famous advertising poster for publishing house Gosizdat (1924), featuring a photographic portrait of the actress and artists' muse, Lili Brik shouting out 'books' in graphics; an iconic close up of the determined face of a young Russian in 'Pioneer Girl' (1930) and the stylish 'Girl with a Leica' (1934), shot from a diagonal viewpoint.
The exhibition also explores life on the streets of Moscow, sports parades and the Soviet obsession with healthy body culture, and the spectacle of the circus. It includes portraits of his wife and fellow artist, Varvara Stepanova; film director, Alexander Dovzhenko; writer, Sergei Tretiakov; and friend and collaborator, Vladimir Mayakovsky.
The exhibition is presented by The Museum Moscow House of Photography and curated by its Director, Olga Sviblova. It was made possible with the support of Roman Abramovich. The exhibition will be on view from 7 February to 27 April 2008. -- www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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