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5/10/2006

In the Alps

Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich

Kunsthaus Zurich shows 'In the Alps', an exhibition devoted to the imagery of the Alpine world from the 17th century to the present day.

From 6 October 2006 until 2 January 2007 Kunsthaus Zurich shows how the Alps have been seen by experts, artists and amateurs, and thus transformed from a natural feature into a cultural phenomenon. The exhibition offers a veritably kaleidoscopic view of the topic from the 17th century to the present day. Its 300 items include votive tablets, cartographic models, early tourists' snapshots and examples of both commercial and fine art, from the classics of alpine landscape painting to the most recent work of contemporary artists.

The Alps are not only the source of Europe's great rivers: they have also given rise to a flood of images that have fertilised European culture since the 18th century. No other landscape has generated such an abundant wealth of imagery, none has so radically formed and altered the artistic vision. The Zurcher Kunstgesellschaft, which has been collecting landscapes for more than 200 years now, has cast a wide net in its approach to this exhibition. The history of the perception and representation of the Alps goes far beyond the usual cliche' 'from the terrible to the sublime'. The way the mountains are viewed, after all, is primarily a function of the general expansion of the visible world, and the appreciation of the Alpine landscape's aesthetic appeal has flowed from its conquest and subjection to the technical mastery of human civilisation.

Conquered by science, technology and tourim

Although our image of the Alps has been shaped by artists, their representations would be impossible without the work of cartographers and geologists, military engineers, bridge and tunnel builders and visionaries of the tourism industry, all of whom have trained their detached gaze upon the Alpine terrain.

Spiritual experience, political and religious symbol

From earliest times the Alps have afforded an experience of the spiritual dimension; today, as well as being a challenge for the athletically minded, they continue to serve as a political and religious symbol. In addition to imposing a rational, pragmatic lifestyle on those who dwell there, the harsh conditions of subsistence among the Alpine peaks and valleys have always exercised a fascination upon the artistic imagination far beyond that of a pretty subject for a landscape. As for the visual vocabulary of those who have set out to dominate the highlands by means of scientific theory and civilising practice, it turns up in our everyday life in the form of hiking maps and atlases. The rich tradition of commercial and popular images of the Alps is preserved in local history museums and, as souvenirs, makes its way across the world. The political representations of freedom and independence, produced particularly in Switzerland, as well as the individual visions of artists and outsiders have held entire cultures in their thrall.

Exhibition in 4 chapter

Tobia Bezzola, the exhibition's curator, has divided the panorama into four chapters: the practical exploitation of the Alps; their discovery by science; their religious, mythical and spiritual dimensions; and their value as a site of leisure activities such as travel, sport and spa tourism. It contains the work of distinguished amateurs like Winston Churchill as well as great masterpieces of Alpine painting, whether by the romanticist J.M.W. Turner or by Alexander Calame, by the symbolist Giovanni Segantini or by Ferdinand Hodler, and also includes contemporary photographs by Nicolas Faure documenting the ruinous effect of climate change on geological formations as well as on Alpine flora and fauna. Taken together, the works presented highlight the links between rationalism and spirituality in a cultural sphere that has been removed from the quotidian world of natural contingency only to be aesthetically abstracted and subjected to an ongoing process of democratisation and mass-marketing in the name of the tourism industry.

Artist

Arnold Bocklin, Monica Bonvicini, Christoph Buchel, Balthasar Burkhard, Alexandre Calame, Valentin Carron, Peter Doig, Gustave Dore', Giovanni Giacometti, Jean-Luc Godard, Ferdinand Hodler, Eduard Imhof, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Armin Linke, Walter Mittelholzer, Arnulf Rainer, Gerhard Richter, John Ruskin, Giovanni Segantini, Helmut Stallaerts, J.M.W. Turner, Euge'ne-Emanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Caspar Wolf and many others.

Catalogue

The catalogue (in German language only) accompanying 'In the Alps' features the 138 creators of the Alpine imaginary in alphabetical order and is designed to serve as a practical guide for visitors to the some 300 items that make up the exhibition. It contains 272 pages, featuring 181 monochrome images and texts by Tobia Bezzola, Catherine Hug, Christoph Becker, Beat Gugger and others. It is on sale at the Kunsthaus Shop for CHF 39.-.

With support from the Vontobel Foundation and the Hans Imholz Foundation.

Image: J. Luscher, Churchill Painting, 1946, Black-and-white photograph 33.5 x 40.8 cm (c) Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich

Kunsthaus Zurich Heimplatz 1 - Zurich
Open Tues-Thurs 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m., closed on Mondays. Public Holidays 24, 26, 31 December, 1 and 2 January 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Public Guided Tours: Tuesdays 12.15 p.m., Wednesdays 6.30 p.m., Fridays 3 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m.
Private guided tours can be arranged by phoning +41 (0)44 253 84 84 (Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-12 noon).
Admission CHF 16.- / 10.- (concessions) / 12.- per head for groups of 20 or more.

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