FERGUSON, Russell
Bohemia: History of an Idea, 1950-2000

From Ed van der Elsken to Nan Goldin to the Diggers to RongRong; from Paris and New York, through swinging London, to the free spirits of Tehran and Beijing – the catalogue of the exhibition Bohemia: History of an Idea, 1950-2000 at Kunsthalle Praha, guest-curated by Los Angeles-based writer and curator Russell Ferguson, is rich with spreads that put together, for instance, bodies depicted by Peter Hujar and Joan Semmel, or views of NYC by Babette Mangolte and Anita Steckel...

Since its beginnings in Paris in the mid-19th century, the idea of bohemia, an urban community of artists and intellectuals living outside bourgeois norms, has been a potent trope of artistic identity. It was here that the notion of an unconventional, free-spirited life, precarious yet filled with idealism, was codified and romanticized. Bohemia: History of an Idea, 1950 – 2000 shows the continuities and differences between the scenes and subcultures of the second half of the twentieth century, when the mainstream began to appropriate and thereby erode a way of life predicated on its rejection. The publication explores the diversity of expressions in various cities in Europe, North America and Asia and shows that the bohemian idea continues to galvanize and inspire. In chapters such as “Always Be Drunk,” “Pop Goes the Easel,” and “Broadway Looked So Medieval,” Ferguson further explores nonconformist ways of artistic life which still spark fascination.

Alice Neel, Peter Hujar, John Deakin, David Wojnarowicz, Jess, Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, William Gedney, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Zhang Huan and Wolfgang Tillmans, are amongst the artists included in the project.

Published by Hatje Cantz, 2023
Design by Studio Najbrt
Exhibition Catalogues / Counterculture / Art Theory / Cultural Studies