The Kunsthaus Zürich Shows ‘The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today on view through 15 May 2011.
‘The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture 1839 to Today’ offers a critical assessment of the aesthetic and theoretical intersections of photography and sculpture, with special attention paid to how the one medium is implicated in the creative interpretation of the other. Presented are prints of famous photographers and groundbreaking artists who used this medium in a creative and original way for their three-dimensional works: Eugène Atget, Hans Bellmer, Herbert Bayer, Constantin Brancusi, Brassaï, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Claude Cahun, Marcel Duchamp, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Robert Frank, David Goldblatt, Hannah Höch, André Kertész, Man Ray, Bruce Nauman, Gillian Wearing, Hannah Wilke, Iwao Yamawaki and many others.
With approximately 300 exceptional photographs by more than 100 artists this exhibition spans the period from the 19th century to the present and focuses mainly on showcasing the possibilities of photography to influence our understanding of sculpture whilst simultaneously challenging it.
The exhibition is organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York and is traveling under the auspices of The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
Under the patronage of the UniversityHospital Zurich for the 50th anniversary of its cardiac surgery ward.
Founded in 1787, the Künstlergesellschaft began to collect works of art in 1794. Every member donated either one of his or her own drawings or one by an artist towards what they termed a ‘Malerbuch’ – a painting book. In 1812 they took out a loan to acquire premises, which initially functioned as a club house and bar. Thanks to an international appeal for funds it became possible in 1818 to secure the Zurich’s main artistic attraction, the ‘Gessnerische Gemählde-Cabinet’, for the city; this encompasses 24 gouache pictures of idyllic landscapes and a number of drawings by Salomon Gessner.
Top Image: Bruce Nauman, Waxing Hot, from the portfolio ‘Eleven Color Photographs’, 1966 – 67 / 1970 / 2007 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Gerald S. Elliott Collection © 2010 ProLitteris, Zurich
Lower Image: Kunsthaus Zürich Photo © Anita Affentranger
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