Bohemia

Since its beginnings in Paris in the mid-19th century, theidea of bohemia, an urban community of artists and intellectualsliving outside bourgeois norms, has been a potenttrope of artistic identity. It was here that the notion of anunconventional, free-spirited life, precarious yet filled withidealism, was codified and romanticized. Bohemia: Historyof an Idea, 1950 - 2000 shows the continuities and differencesbetween the scenes and subcultures of the secondhalf of the twentieth century, when the mainstreambegan to appropriate and thereby erode a way of life predicatedon its rejection. Nonetheless, as an alternative toconformity the bohemian idea has exerted an enduringfascination. Through works by 39 artists, including AliceNeel, PeterHujar, John Deakin, David Wojnarowicz, Edvan der Elsken, Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, WilliamGedneyLibuSe Jarcovjáková, Nan Goldin, Zhang Huan andWolfgang Tillmans, the publication explores the diversityof expressions in various cities in Europe, North Americaand Asia and shows that the bohemian idea continues togalvanize and inspire.