Phyllida Barlow
Tacita Dean
Emilie Ding
Klara Liden
Ulrich Ruckriem
Kilian Ruthemann
Oscar Tuazon
Klaus Winichner
Heike Munder
Thomas D. Trummer
The term 'Displaced Fractures' derives from the medical world, and describes a phenomenon whereby bone fractures reveal themselves in other places than the major stress site. In the new spaces of the Migros Museum, installations, spatial interventions and sculptures working with the displacement of symptoms are given prominence. What dominates here is the area of tension between the refusal of form and monumental creations, between subjective and formal, rational gestures.
curated by Heike Munder and Thomas D. Trummer
Phyllida Barlow – Tacita Dean – Emilie Ding – Klara Lidén – Ulrich Rückriem – Kilian Rüthemann – Oscar Tuazon – Klaus Winichner
Art has always been the sensorium of the fragile, brittle and porous of the human. In this group exhibition, however, human fracture lines are not treated directly in terms of the human body, but instead by using architecture as a surrogate. The fractures and interfaces of buildings form metaphors for the breaks in human existence. The term "Displaced Fractures" derives from the medical world, and describes a phenomenon whereby bone fractures reveal themselves in other places than the major stress site. The term "displacement" is also used in psychology. In the new spaces of the migros museum für gegenwartskunst, installations, spatial interventions and sculptures working with the displacement of symptoms are given prominence. What dominates here is the area of tension between the refusal of form and monumental creations, between subjective and formal, rational gestures.
In an analogy to the notion of "Displaced Fractures," projection surfaces are rendered on the building which, in spite of its stability, is subject to temporality, and an opening up to questions of its existential orientation and existence. Through such actions on this alleged fixedness, the discourse on sculpture demonstrates the precariousness of the present and makes it palpable. In works exhibited by artists such as Klaus Winichner or Phyllida Barlow, the formless, already posited by Rosalind Krauss and Yves Alain Bois as a synonym for that which is repressed, is elaborated upon in material and form. As the work of Oscar Tuazon and Kilian Rüthemann shows, it is not alienation that is thematized here, but instead the impossibility of bringing the modulations of the building's fracture lines and the unruly ability to live to expression.
Lifeless material becomes a metaphor for the body, as Klara Lidén's work shows, whether in cautious construction or spontaneous collapse. The works exhibit the structures of the architectonic exactly like personal traces. They are precise attitudes in which the formal culmination materializes, as Emilie Ding's concrete support structures or Ulrich Rückriem's stone cuboids testify. The dynamic application of colors and the use of free forms make these subjective interventions particularly distinctive. They bear witness to the presence of the human and ultimately, through free and defiant handling, signify the vulnerability of the present and of memory.
Curators of the exhibition: Heike Munder (migros museum für gegenwartskunst) and Thomas D. Trummer (Siemens Stiftung)
The Siemens Stiftung wishes to accompany and help impart the social changes registered by art and culture. The challenges of the present have been thematized by the leitmotif "Shifting Societies"; an art that depicts time-determined problems, damage and mental states renders our contemporary living environment and existential problems manifest and tangible. siemens-stiftung.org
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE: A catalogue will be published for the exhibition by JRP|Ringier in February 2011, with contributions by Holger Birkholz, Karsten Harries, Heike Munder and Thomas D. Trummer.
DISCUSSION WITH THE ARTISTS PHYLLIDA BARLOW AND KILIAN RÜTHEMANN: On Wednesday 19th January 2011 at 7pm, a discussion will take place between Phyllida Barlow, Kilian Rüthemann, Heike Munder and Thomas D. Trummer in the exhibition space.
LECTURE BY HOLGER BIRKHOLZ FOLLOWED BY A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK DISPLACED FRACTURES: On Thursday 17th February at 7pm, on the occasion of the book launch of the exhibition catalogue, Holger Birkholz will deliver a lecture on the current discourse of sculpture. This will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Holger Birkholz, Heike Munder and Thomas D. Trummer.
PRESS: For visual material and further information please go to: presse@migrosmuseum.ch
Image: Phyllida Barlow, "SWAMP untitled: barrier," 2010.
Wallboard, color, 120 x 650 x 650 cm.
Courtesy of the artist and V22 Collection, London.
Photo by Andy Keate.
Opening Friday, 10 December 2010, 6pm
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst / Hubertus Exhibitions
Albisriederstr. 199a CH-8047 Zürich
Hours: Tues / Wed / Fri Midday–6pm, Thurs Midday–8pm, Sat / Sun 11–5pm. On Thursdays 5pm – 8pm, entrance is free of charge.