Undercurrents I: Stories, Symbols, and Sounds at Wende Museum

At the newly reopened Wende Museum, Undercurrents I: Stories, Symbols, and Sounds highlights the “vibrant and often hidden art of Cold War countercultures.” Co-curated by Isotta Poggi, associate curator of photographs at the Getty Research Institute (GRI), Undercurrents explores how artists subvert official imagery and craft alternative aesthetic universes, thereby challenging and reshaping perceptions of reality. The exhibition presents East German and Polish underground publications as well as Hungarian and Czechoslovak countercultural photographs. Artworks in the show come from Wende’s own collection, the GRI, and the Archive of Modern Conflict. Additionally, the exhibition presents significant works loaned by the Corita Art Center by acclaimed U.S. artist and social justice advocate Corita Kent.

In the fall, Undercurrents will be followed by Undercurrents II: Archives and Counterculture. In addition to the exhibition, the Wende has unveiled a new installation in the museum’s East German guardhouse by the artist Saun Santipreecha titled [0-I-RI-R] and two new open storage displays.

Photo: Claus Weidensdorfer, Untitled, Jazz and Improvisation, 1986, lithograph, German Democratic Republic. Collection Wende Museum.