APROPOSITIONS (
Kunsthaus Zurich (CH)(group)
08.03-30.06.2024
Group exhibition Apropos Hodler - Current Perspectives on an Icon with:
Asim Abdulaziz, Laura Aguilar, Caroline Bachmann, Sabian Baumann, Denise Bertschi, Ishita Chakraborty, Andriu Deplazes, Latifa Echakhch, Eva Egermann & Cordula Thym, Marianne Flotron, Dani Gal, María Elena González, Hemauer/Keller, David Hockney, Sasha Huber, Roland Iselin, Frantiček Klossner, Nils Amadeus Lange, Izidora I LETHE, Urs Lüthi, André M’Bon, Uriel Orlow, Nicolas Party, RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co), Ugo Rondinone, Susan Schuppli, Selma Selman, Milva Stutz, Latefa Wiersch
The Kunsthaus Zürich examines the contemporary relevance of Switzerland’s ‘national artist’, Ferdinand Hodler. ‘Apropos Hodler’ counters one-sided interpretations with the rich diversity of the painter’s formal, cultural and political impact, and sets out to view the old and familiar with new eyes. Works by more than 30 contemporary artists are juxtaposed with some 50 paintings by the Swiss icon.
The exhibition is the first to locate Hodler in the context of current discourses, bringing four themes of his work into the present day: landscapes; corporealities; belonging; and enigma/transcendence. Where did Hodler stand, and how do artists today position themselves in relation to these discourses? The topics covered include climate change, stewardship of resources, and the representation of human beings and their bodies against the backdrop of fluid identities. The presentation asks questions such as ‘what role do the need for belonging and an awareness of origin play in a globalized world?’
The Kunsthaus Zürich, which is home to the largest public collection of Hodler’s works next to the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva, is looking beyond its own holdings for this exhibition, and has secured the loan of key exhibits from other public and private collections in Switzerland. Some 60 pieces by Hodler are joined by the works of 30 contemporary artists from different cultural regions: Asim Abdulaziz, Laura Aguilar, Caroline Bachmann, Sabian Baumann, Denise Bertschi, Ishita Chakraborty, Andriu Deplazes, Latifa Echakhch, Eva Egermann & Cordula Thym, Marianne Flotron, Dani Gal, María Elena González, Hemauer/Keller, David Hockney, Sasha Huber, Roland Iselin, Frantiček Klossner, Nils Amadeus Lange, Izidora I LETHE, Urs Lüthi, André M’Bon, Uriel Orlow, Nicolas Party, RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co), Ugo Rondinone, Susan Schuppli, Selma Selman, Milva Stutz and Latefa Wiersch. Along with spectacular new productions by Nils Amadeus Lange, Izidora I LETHE, Nicolas Party and RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co).
Supported by UBS, Partner Kunsthaus Zürich, the Ernst Göhner Foundation and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). (curatorial text)
LETHE creates a new body of works for this exhibtion, consisting of a series of three drawings (scores), a video and one live performance.
Through the framework of the exhibition, LETHE delves into site-specific notions of “neutrality" or "naturality" regarding the construction of a (national) landscape and its bodies. LETHE tackles such through a deep engagement into site, its architectural histories, and traces hidden and ever-present (em)power(ment)s.
APROPOSITIONS ( is a one-time only live-performance. For the exhibition "Apropos Hodler" Izidora I LETHE has produced "APROPOSITIONS", a choreography with 7 performers, which takes up Ferdinand Hodler's body, gesture and landscape images and places them in the context of the present. The seven performers wear a exclusively produced fabric that quotes a deer-unter’s camouflage “orange blaze”, by which the hunters see each other in dusk or dawn. The textiles are altered to depict invasive plants, printed on canvas, with a color gradiation from a white that looks as if bleached from below to a mid-day/mid-night orange on top.
The performers move throughout five different locations in the (recently built by David Chipperfield and more historic building by Karl Moser) architectures of the museum, guiding the viewers through a score of possible interventions into often complex histories and presents. The score consists of the following:
DIS_PLACE
RE_APPEAR
UN_QUOTE
DE_POSITION
GATHER
UN_RELATE
DISPERSE
Courtesy Zurich Art Weekend
Courtesy Zurich Art Weekend
Courtesy Zurich Art Weekend
Courtesy Zurich Art Weekend
Izidora l LETHE
Camera
Leonia Brenner
Meret Bhend
Silvan Hillmann
Video Edit
Izidora I LETHE
Costume
Ana Toni Vyshyakova
Photo Credits
Studio Stucky
Urs Westerman, Courstesy Zurich Art Weekend
Giuliana Beya Dridi
Donya Speaks
Hermes Schneider
Len Mettler
Nayo Sauter
Remo Asphalt
Sharon Tessarolo
Production support
Burgauer Stifrung, Kunsthaus Zurich