Madrid, September 26, 2013

From October 4, 2013 to January 12, 2014

La Casa Encendida exhibits Frederick Kiesler’s theater designs

 Architect, theater designer and artist Frederick Kiesler is one of the most relevant avant-garde creators of the 20th C.

 “Frederick Kiesler. El escenario explota” (Frederick Kiesler: The Stage Explodes) includes works created by the artist during his theatrical period. A film cycle, a workshop and a parallel exhibition devoted to the Kiesler Foundation’s photographic archive complete the exhibition.

La Casa Encendida, part of the Fundación Especial Caja Madrid, presents “Frederick Kiesler. El escenario explota”, an exhibition that shows the theater designs made by this talented artist. Frederick J. Kiesler is considered one of the 20th century’s most visionary artists. His comprehensive oeuvre encompasses multiple fields: architecture, , design, painting and the stage. This exhibition, the result of a joint production with the Austrian Theater Museum and the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich curated by Barbara Lesak, focuses on his creations for the stage.

The works of Frederick Kiesler (Czernowitz, 1890 – , 1965) are contained in the sphere of the avant-garde. It has been nearly a half a century since his death, but his works continue to fascinate us. Kiesler was an artists’ artist, an artist before his time, an innovator. His enormous and creative intuition made of him an undisputable point of reference in the architecture of the future. A man of great and deep culture, of vast talents, he divined concepts and manifestations that have allowed us to untangle the elements of absolute contemporaneity. The concepts themselves of superposition, simultaneity, intertwining or indeterminatedness are found at every point in his works.

Kiesler was an architect, a stage designer and an artist. In 1920 he worked with in , and it was as a member of the De Stijl group that he began to experiment with innovative stage sets and designs. In 1924 he developed the concept of “infinity”, involving the creation of a space contained within a double-curved concrete spiral shell which – apparently endlessly – offered an interior that could be freely modified. In order to better adapt the concept of the endless house to a stage setting, Kiesler devised a stage consisting of a double spiral interconnecting both elements by means of rings and ramps where the audience was to sit.

Kiesler believed that this “endless stage”, devoid of proscenium or curtain and leaning out towards the spectator, would, by means of the perpetual movement of the walls and imbued by the changing hues of the lighting, encourage ongoing interaction between the spectator and the audience. In 1925, Kiesler designed the Austrian Pavilion for the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris. In 1926 he emigrated to the of America, where he was to design New York’s Film Guild Cinema in 1929 and the Universal Theater in 1933. Immediately after his arrival to the United States, he was associated to the Surrealists, and in fact he designed the installations for the International Surrealist Exhibition held in Paris in 1947. He also designed ’s “Art of this Century Gallery” in 1957. Between 1959 and 1960 his maquette titled “Endless House” was exhibited at the MoMA. One of his last designs, and a very relevant one, was the Shrine of the Book, which he undertook jointly with Armand Bartos between 1959 and 1965 for the Hebrew University in .

This exhibition will be accompanied by another one mounted at the Torreón 2 dedicated to the Kiesler Foundation’s photographic archives. Titled “Kiesler. Cara a cara con la vanguardia” (Kiesler: Face to Face with the Avant-garde) it will display, between October 3 and November 3, images of his architectural and stage works, as well as a selection of portraits of him with his contemporaries. Photographers such as Duane Michals o Irving Penn sign some of the pictures contained in this exhibition.

Cycle 100% Cinema

Parallel to these exhibitions a film cycle titled “100% Cinema” will run, establishing a relationship between the research undertaken by Kiesler in this medium with filmmaking in his day and with the influence he was to exert. The cycle will end with the performance titled “Expanded Cinema” by Bruce McClure, who will furthermore lead a workshop.

Kiesler programador/descubridor (Kiesler: Programmer/Discoverer) Tuesday October 8, 2013. 22:00 Patio (Courtyard)

 Der Sieger, by Walter Ruttman. Germany, 1922. 5 min.  Ballet Mécanique, by Fernand Léger, . 1924. 16 min.  One A.M., by Charles Chaplin. 1916. 21 min.  The fall of the House of Usher, by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. U.S.A. 1928. 13 min.  Witch's cradle, by Maya Deren and M. Duchamp. U.S.A. 1943. 12 min.

Kiesler y las vanguardias (Kiesler and the Avant-gardes) Tuesday October 15, 2013. 20:00 Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 Sueños que el dinero puede comprar (Dreams Money Can Buy), by Hans Richter. 1947. 99 min. OV, subtitled.

Kiesler in film Tuesday October 22, 2013. 20:00 Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 8x8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements, by Hans Richter and Jean Cocteau. U.S.A. 1957. 80 min. OV, subtitled.

Herencia Kiesler (Kiesler Legacy) Tuesday October 29, 2013. 20.00 h Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 Two Projects by Frederick Kiesler, by . Germany, 2009. 16 min.  Koolhaas HouseLife, by Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine. France, 2008. 60 min. OV, subtitled.

Arquitecturas utópicas (Utopian Architectures) Tuesday November 5, 2013. 20:00. Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 Minhocão, by Raphaël Grisey, France/Brazil, 2010. 31 min. OV, subtitled.  Reconversão, by Thom Andersen. Portugal, 2012. 65 min. OV, subtitled.

Tuesday November 12, 2013. 20:00 Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 Adebar, by Peter Kubelka. , 1957. 2 min.  Arnulf Rainer, by Peter Kubelka. Austria, 1960. 7 min.  Passage Through: A Ritual, by Stan Brakhage. U.S.A., 1990. 49 min.

Juegos en la superficie, juegos en el espacio (Games on the Surface, Games in Space) Tuesday November 19, 2013. 20:00 Sala audiovisual (Audiovisual Hall)

 La Région Centrale, by Michael Snow. Canada, 1972. 180 min.

Finally, Aurora Herrera leads the workshop “La dimensión espacio temporal en la obra de Frederick John Kiesler” (The Time-Space Dimension in the Works of Frederick John Kiesler), which will include the participation of architects Auxiliadora Gálvez, José Maria Ballesteros, Covadonga Lorenzo and Eduardo de la Peña.

FREDERICK KIESLER. EL ESCENARIO EXPLOTA Dates: From October 4, 2013 to January 12, 2014 Opening hours: 10:00-21:45 Venue: Halls A, B and C Price: Free admission

Ciclo 100% Cinema Every Tuesday in October and November 2013 at 20:00

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