Bauhaus Celebrates Kurt Kranz on the 100th Anniversary of his Birthday

Saturday 27th November 2010

Kurt Kranz: Programming of Beauty is the latest exhibition to be held at Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany. The exhibition is set to mark the 100th birthday of Kranz who, inspired by a lecture by Laszlo Maholy-Nagy, joined the Bauhaus in April 1930.

The Bauhau was a design school that was active between 1919 and 1933, and despite its short lifespan, is has left a lasting mark on the history of architecture, design, art and even 20th century culture as a whole. The Bauhaus was a melting pot for artists, architects and designers to come together in a place that promoted creation and debate about the relationship between modern living and cultural productions.

Founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus encouraged its teachers and students to consider how craft and design are integral to industrial production and that all aspects of art and design, and how they are used to construct objects and spaces, will be central to the development of society.

In 1923 the focus of the Bauhaus became every more industrial. The first Bauhaus exhibition, which opened in 1923, saw a unification of art and technology, covering the whole range of Bauhaus modes of production, from art and photography, right up to full scale building design.

The Bauhaus moved to Dessau in 1924 due to strict funding cuts, and it is there that many of the great works of art and design that we associate with the Bauhaus were created. Walter Gropuis resigned as director of the Bauhaus in 1928, due to the constant struggles that were necessary to keep the school alive and thriving under conditions in Germany at the time. He was succeeded by Swiss architect, Hannes Meyer, who held key Bauhaus concepts close at heart however, his Marxist sympathies saw him removed from the post in 1930, given the political turbulence in Germany in that period.

Famed architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took charge from 1930 to 1933, changing the focus of the Bauhaus to concentrate more on architecture. As the Nazi party began to really take hold in Germany, the Bauhaus was first forced to move away from Dessau in 1932, before finally closing down in 1933 under increasing pressures from the Nazis.

Kurt Kranz can be counted amongst the many great artists, architects and designers that proudly attended the Bauhaus school of design, and although he joined in 1930; just three years before its closure, the things that he learned at the Bauhaus would stand him in good stead for the rest of his creative career.

Kranz took a class in photography under Walter Peterhan, learning how to experiment with the medium. Kranz went on to produce striking abstract works based on the repetition of an image or theme. As well as celebrating these abstract photographic works that were produced during the Bauhaus years, the exhibition also takes a look at Kranz's later work as an advertising graphic designer and how his earlier experiments informed his later career.

The exhibition will run until the 27th March 2011 at the Bauhaus Building in Dessau. For more information, please visit the Bauhaus website.

Posted on November 27th 2010 on 01:05pm

Labels: exhibitions, photography

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