Image above: Installation view Felicitas Hoppe, Jana Müller and Alexej Meschtschanow “Grand Tour – Leaving Europe”, 2015-2018
In the year 1935, at the beginning of the Great Terror in the USSR and in the midst of the Great Depression in the US, the writers Ilja Ilf and Jewgeni Petrow travelled in a silver Ford through the vastness of America. They were guided by the brave, immigrant Engineer Solomon Trone from the East Coast to the West Coast and back to the East Coast, all commissioned by the Soviet State Organ PRAWDA. What almost looked like a classical road-trip was in fact a tour with a secret mission and higher purpose. The two Russians concluded their humorous and partially bizarre experiences in the land of the class enemy in their famous travel-diary-novel “Little Golden America” with photographs and texts.
Exactly 80 years later the artists Jana Müller, Alexej Meschtschanow and the author Felicitas Hoppe follow the near exact route of the literary duo, supported by the skilful guidance of professor Ulrike Rainer, also an immigrant. From 2015 until 2018 a renewed, literal, but this time also artistic, survey of the Great Brother America has been developed. The work is produced from impressions collected during their travels as a complete multimedia-based project, encompassing text, image, object, sound, installation and an online archive. In doing so everything is based in personal experience and the formal language of the travellers. This project is the “Grand Tour – Leaving Europe”. In addition two books are released about the new road- trip: Felicitas Hoppe’s novel “PRAWDA. Eine amerikanische Reise”, published by Fischer Verlag and the art book “THE MAKING OF PRAWDA“ by Felicitas Hoppe, Jana Müller, Alexej Meschtschanow and Ulrike Rainer published by Distanz Verlag. The final, whole work “Grand Tour – Leaving Europe” as well as the newly released books are on view from the end of March until mid April 2019 at the exhibition space of IG Metall in Berlin. Stephan Klee
Zusätzlich erscheinen zwei Bücher zum Neuen Roadtrip: Felicitas Hoppes Roman „PRAWDA. Eine amerikanische Reise“ im Fischer Verlag und das Künstlerbuch „THE MAKING OF PRAWDA“ von Felicitas Hoppe, Jana Müller und Alexej Meschtschanow im Distanz Verlag. Sowohl das finale Gesamtkunstwerk „Grand Tour- Europa verlassen“ als auch die beiden neu erscheinenden Bücher werden jetzt von Ende März bis Mitte Mai 2019 im Ausstellungsraum der IG Metall in Berlin zu sehen sein.
The Online-Archive to the Roadtrip: www.3668ilfpetrow.com
»Eurpoa verlassen / Leaving Europe«
Felicitas Hoppe, Alexej Meschtschanow and Jana Müller
Curated by Stephan Klee
Vernissage + Book Release
Thursday, March 28th 2019, 7 to 10 pm
The art book “THE MAKING OF PRAWDA”, published by Distanz Verlag, will be published on the occasion of the exhibition.
Welcome: Bodo Grzonka, IG Metall
Greeting: Marc Wellmann, Artistic Director Haus am Lützowplatz
Introduction: Stephan Klee, curator of the exhibition
Reading + Finissage
Thursday, May 9th 2019, 7 pm
Felicitas Hoppe liest aus ihrem Roman “Prawda: Eine Amerikanische Reise”
Exhibition period:
Friday, March 29th to Friday, May 10th 2019
Opening hours of exhibition space at IG Metall:
Mon–Thu 9 am – 6 pm, Fri 9 am – 2:30 pm
Haus am Lützowplatz and frontviews at IG Metall exhibition space
WHERE?
Im IG Metall Ausstellungsraum
Alte Jakobstraße 149
10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg
www.igmetall-bbs.de
COST?
Admission free
frontviews
Haus am Lützowplatz
IG Metall Berlin
With the kind support of IG Metall and Haus am Lützowplatz
