login    password    artist  buyer  gallery  
Not a member? Register
absolutearts.com logo HOME REGISTER BUY ART SEARCH ART TRENDS COLLECT ART ART NEWS
 
 
Art News:

Reto Pulfer | Zustandseffekte | Opening May 7

View this email in your browser

Reto Pulfer

Zustandseffekte

Opening Tuesday, May 7, 6 to 8PM

Including a performance by Eisklares Echo (Mia von Matt / Reto Pulfer) at 7:30PM 
The enigmatic body of work by Swiss artist Reto Pulfer (b. 1981, lives in Berlin) might be said to occur at the intersection of architecture and performance. In his first solo-exhibition in the United States, Pulfer suspends large swathes of hand-painted cloth from the ceiling structure, countering the architecture of Swiss Institute’s main gallery while exploring an ethereal environment.

Visitors enter into a mysterious back-lit interior. The walls, enveloped in the unbleached cotton cloth, sway with movement, while dramatic pinpoints of swirling color are splayed out on the fabric-covered ceiling. This illuminated starry sky extends in a diagonal band from corner to corner across the space. The exhibition’s title, Zustandseffekte, roughly translated, means the effects of a given state, referring to a contradictory process of both stagnation and transformation. 

For this exhibition, Pulfer innovates ancient rhetoric, deploying it as a compass for his temporary intervention. Drawing from the ancient Greek strategy of mnemonics, the artist translates thought patterns into three-dimensional form: second hand bedsheets, Raku-ceramics, and the handmade crate in which the work is shipped are used as vocabulary. The method of combining loosely associated words is central to his practice. Often these language chains aid one in remembering what might be otherwise elusive details. Similarly, in the artists’ studio, the mental repetition of a phrase rhythmically guides the drawing on and sewing together of textiles. Contemplation of language is the pivot point between the fabric and its display.

At Swiss Institute, viewers are welcomed to an interior space that oscillates between reality and imagination. However, the language itself remains concealed from the viewer, much in the same way the architecture of the gallery is veiled by the diaphanous installation. One is left to explore the temporary and transparent room, tacitly experiencing an uncertain state that mingles mnemonic, meditation, performance, production, and installation. The results are grasped yet their cause remains elusive, just out of reach.

Reto Pulfer has exhibited at CCS Bard College (2013); Kunstverein Nürnberg, Germany (2013); Künstlerhaus Graz (2013); Kunsthaus Baselland (2012); Istituto Svizzero di Roma (2011); and the Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art Vienna (2011), among others.

 

Facebook  Twitter  Swiss Institute
Copyright © 2013 Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art, All rights reserved.
In the past you provided Swiss Institute with your . Occasionally, you will receive announcements regarding exhibitions and special events. If you no longer wish to receive these announcements, please click "" below to send a removal request.

Our mailing address is:
Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art
18 Wooster Street
New York, NY 10013

Add us to your address book
     




#

YOUR FIRST STOP FOR ART ONLINE!
HELP MEDIA KIT SERVICES CONTACT


Discover over 150,000 works of contemporary art. Search by medium, subject matter, price and theme... research over 200,000 works by over 22,000 masters in the indepth art history section. Browse through new Art Blogs. Use our advanced artwork search interface.

Call for Artists, Premiere Portfolio sign-up for your Free Portfolio or create an Artist Portfolio today and sell your art at the marketplace for contemporary Art! Start a Gallery Site to exclusively showcase your gallery. Keep track of contemporary art with your free MYabsolutearts account.

 


Copyright 1995-2013. World Wide Arts Resources Corporation. All rights reserved