News — Dec 10, 2023

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents the cosmic intuitions of Vasily Chekrygin and his contemporaries in Cosmism – Images from a Future Gathering, opening on 13 January 2024. The exhibition delves into Cosmism, an early-twentieth-century philosophical movement that sought humanity's salvation through technology, conquering death, and exploring outer space. Featuring works from the Khardzhiev collection and recent acquisitions by Ukrainian artist Fedir Tetianych from the 1970s and 80s, within a single exhibition space, the show offers a condensed journey into the utopian and dystopian realms of Cosmism. 

According to Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov, one of the founding figures of Cosmism, technological and scientific advancements would grant humans immortality. He also believed that everyone who had ever lived should be resurrected. Since this would lead to Earth’s overpopulation, humans would be compelled to conquer outer space, where the resurrected would live on colonized celestial bodies. 

Fedir Tetyanych, 'Biotechnosphere – Boat', early 1980s. Courtesy of Bohdan-Liubomyr Tetianych- Bublyk, collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Cosmism had an enormous impact on scientists, revolutionaries and artists, who sought to capture these visions of the future in their work. The exhibition focuses on the artist Vasily Chekrygin (1897–1922), one of the movement’s most exceptional adherents whose drawings envision the various stages of human resurrection as described by Fedorov. Figures ascend and fall, shrouded bodies dissolve in a vastness of planets and stars, embodying what Chekrygin refers to as the ‘exodus from chaos to cosmos’.  

In addition to Chekrygin's works, the exhibition highlights work by Pavel Filonov, Natalia Goncharova, Elena Guro, Ivan Leonidov, Kazimir Malevich, and Mikhail Matyushin, permanently on loan from the Khardzhiev Foundation. The show also includes recent acquisitions from Ukrainian Cosmist Fedir Tetianych from the 1970s and 80s. Furthermore, the interactive installation Cosmist Reading Room (2020 – ongoing) by Anton Vidokle encourages the audience to take a seat and delve into both historical texts and contemporary reflections on Cosmism. Another notable addition in the space adjacent to the exhibition is the installation Ruler of the Stars (2009) by the Almaty-based artist duo Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev, which uses Cosmism as a method.  

self portrait of Vasily Nikolaevich Chekrygin
Vasily Nikolaevich Chekrygin, 'Self-Portrait of the Artist', 1918 -1920, on loan Stichting Khardzhiev
  • Assumption of a Saint
    Kazimir Malevich, 'Assumption of a Saint', 1907 – 1908, on loan Stichting Khardzhiev
  • Luchistoye more / Rayonist Sea
    Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova, 'Luchistoye more / Rayonist Sea', 1912 – 1913, on loan Stichting Khardzhiev
  • Sketch for the series About the Cathedral of the Resurrectionary Museum
    Vasily Nikolaevich Chekrygin, 'Sketch for the series About the Cathedral of the Resurrectionary Museum', 1921, on loan Stichting Khardzhiev
  • Space (360 Degree View)
    Mikhail Matyushin, 'Space (360 Degree View)', 1920, on loan Stichting Khardzhiev

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL KHARDZHIEV CONFERENCE

To conclude the exhibition, The Stedelijk Museum and the Khardzhiev Foundation are hosting the Fifth International Khardzhiev Conference, dedicated to Cosmism, on 1 and 2 March 2024. The program takes its cue from the avant-garde art in the Khardzhiev collection and explores the resonance of cosmic ideas, to arrive at artists and thinkers of today who try to imagine a future in times of war and climate, health, and energy crisis.

The exhibition Cosmism — Images from a Future Gathering is curated by Robbie Schweiger and Frank van Lamoen.