'Raw, Concrete'

The Brutalist Movement of the 1950s-1980s got its name in part from the French phrase béton brut—”raw concrete”. It inspired artists and architects to create works that solved societal ills: income inequality, housing and food shortages, and political instability in the wake of two world wars.

Their achievements still sing through the decades in the forms of public housing design, modular furniture, and bold, legible typefaces. Adornment was eschewed, but beauty was not…the woodgrain texture of plywood formwork is still visibly embedded in concrete surfaces, rust is allowed to express its nature, glass is not just a window but a portal uniting inside and outside, and paint is applied with no intention of illusion.

February’s call invited artists to create works influenced by Brutalism, showing us pure materials, utility and economy, and a message—either literal or implied—that what the world needs now is authenticity, raw and concrete.

This calendar listing is brought to you by Peak Radar, the Pikes Peak region’s one-stop, online website for arts and entertainment events, powered by the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region.