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Art News:
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KARLHEINZ
WEINBERGER
Intimate
Stranger
February 9 to March 23
2011
Opening: Tuesday, February 8 2011 at 6
pm
Swiss Institute proudly presents the first institutional exhibition of
vintage prints by the late Karlheinz Weinberger (1921-2006). An unsung pioneer
of vernacular photography, Weinberger captured a young generation of outlaws,
who were greatly influenced by American culture. Although created decades ago,
Weinberger’s photographs have remained accessible to a relatively small group of
people. His first major exhibition occurred only in
2000.
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For most
of his adult life, Karlheinz Weinberger worked by day in the warehouse
department of the Siemens-Albis factory in Zurich. In his free time, however, he
escaped monotony by immersing himself in photography. Self-taught and working
under the pseudonym of Jim, Weinberger began his artistic career by taking
pictures for a gay underground club, Der Kreis which published the
eponymous magazine.
Image: Karlheinz Weinberger, Untitled, 1960. Copyright: The Estate of
Karlheinz Weinberger in care of Patrik Schedler, Zurich. Image courtesy of
Artist Resources Management and Anna Kustera Gallery, New York.
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This
clandestine phase of Weinberger’s work is the impetus behind the exhibition at
Swiss Institute. During this moment, Weinberger inhabited the role of an
intimate stranger, capturing the unfiltered attitude of a rebel youth while
processing and developing the objects of his gaze in his home photo laboratory.
Image: Karlheinz Weinberger, The Lions, Basel, 1962. Copyright: The Estate of
Karlheinz Weinberger in care of Patrik Schedler, Zurich. Image courtesy of
Artist Resources Management and Anna Kustera Gallery, New York.
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In 1958,
Weinberger met members of a small band of teenagers and began photographing them
both at his home studio, as well as at the public parks and fairgrounds where
the group gathered. In post war Switzerland, these self-named “rebels” (referred
to by the Swiss as “Halbstark” or “half strong”) were comprised of working class
boys and girls dissatisfied by the conservative climate of the day. They adopted
a powerful gang identity expressed in their self styled and homemade clothing—
embellished jeans, motorcycle jackets, enlarged belt buckles—which referenced
and emulated American icons such as Marlon Brando (in The Wild One),
James Dean (in Rebel Without a Cause), Elvis Presley (in the film and
album Jailhouse
Rock).
Image: Karlheinz Weinberger, The Jets, Basel, 1962. Copyright: The Estate of
Karlheinz Weinberger in care of Patrik Schedler, Zurich. Image courtesy of
Artist Resources Management and Anna Kustera Gallery, New York.
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Beyond
the documentary value of Weinberger’s work, his photos, in their triumph over
objectivity, are a genuine contribution to the history portraiture, and are a
seminal moment in the second half of the 20th
century.
Curated by Gianni Jetzer in collaboration with the Karlheinz Weinberger Estate,
Zurich and Artist Resources Management, New
York.
With kind support of Hudson Jeans, Los
Angeles.
For additional information or image material please contact Piper Marshall, piper@swissinstitute.net
Image: Karlheinz Weinberger, Zurich, 1961. Copyright: The Estate of Karlheinz
Weinberger in care of Patrik Schedler, Zurich. Image courtesy of Artist
Resources Management and Anna Kustera Gallery, New York.
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SWISS INSTITUTE / CONTEMPORARY
ART
495 BROADWAY / 3RD
FLOOR
NEW YORK / NY
10012
TEL 212. 925.
2035
SUBWAY / N / R TO PRINCE STREET /
6 TO SPRING
STREET
wheelchair
accessible
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