ZURICH ART WEEKEND is a non-profit organisation that brings together Zurich’s major public and private art institutions through a variety of initiatives and events. In close collaboration with art institutions and galleries, the annual three-day flagship event facilitates access to culture and sheds new light on the art scene of Switzerland’s largest city.
In the past, art collectors, curators, and critics who travelled to Art Basel would often arrive to Switzerland a bit early to catch the latest on view in Zurich’s vibrant gallery scene. That custom was formalized with the launch of Zurich Art Weekend in 2018. 2023 marks the 6th edition the Zurich Art Weekend and the exhibitions on show include those in galleries, museums, and alternative spaces across the city. The organisation put together a guidebook for the weekend which includes nine suggested walking routes that group together nearby venues so art consumers know what else to look in each area. The art on view to look forward to includes the following.
Tschabalala Self, a Harlem native, is inspired by African-American artists such as Romare Bearden in her work. She is best known for her depictions of Black female figures using paint, fabric, and discarded pieces of her previous work. Recently, she has expanded her practice to include sculptural elements. Both modes of her art are on view in this show. Self opens with Seated Woman 1 a bronze work for a Black woman in a red dress seated on a green chair, which rests on a rounded dais of black-and-white tile. This is set against a red-white-and-yellow plaid wall.
It is an alluring invitation to see various scenes of Black people. In Self’s piece titled ‘Transformation’ a figure seems to meld into the furniture. The legs seem to be becoming one with a chaise lounge and the head transfiguring into a lampshade. It shows the artistic process of entering into sculptural mode and the physical process of transitioning from one mode to another to allow the artistic process to take place. This will be on show at Galerie Eva Presenhuber until the 22nd of July.
Los Angeles based artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya, has recently added ‘PUSH/PULL’ to his 2021 series ‘DAYLIGHT STUDIO / DARK ROOM STUDIO’. Known for focusing his work on the relationship between artist and subject, he often explores the nude in relation to the intimacy of studio photography.
Sepuya presents various studio portraits which are not really studio portraits. His aim has been to highlight the various tools that comprise a photography studio. For instance, he has included light stands, backdrops, sandbags, and the camera on its tripod in his portraits. In this installation, four large-scale printed images are mounted onto wooden structures. This will be on show until the 28th of July at Galerie Peter Kilchmann.
