Author Description

The notion of utopia exists in every culture, capturing shared dreams and common goals. This book--prepared to accompany the exhibition Expressionist Utopias mounted at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1993--explores how the optimistic themes of utopia and fantasy sustained faith among artists and architects in the power of art to shape a better world during the tumultuous World War I era in Germany. The exhibition's curator, Timothy O. Benson along with David Frisby, Reinhold Heller, Anton Kaes, Wolf Prix, and Iain Boyd White present the diverse manifestations of the utopia metaphor in its progression throughout Expressionism from Arcadian to manmade utopias. This work includes a new essay and an interview by Edward Dimenberg with Wolf Prix on the spectacular installation created for the exhibition by the Viennese architectural firm Coop Himmelblau.