Nicolas Party in
Apropos Hodler
8 March—30 June 2024
Group Exhibition at Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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 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).
The exhibition concept was developed by Kunsthaus curators Sandra Gianfreda and Cathérine Hug as part of a collective, which also chose the 30 invited artists. This collective included artists Sabian Baumann (b. 1962), Ishita Chakraborty (b. 1989) and RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co; since 1983). They reacted to a list of Hodler paintings which was also drawn up collectively. The exhibition was designed in close collaboration with the artist Nicolas Party (b. 1980).