Silvia Bächli / Eric Hattan: Situer la différence

She draws, he tinkers. They have been mixing their individual take on things for over 35 years. Silvia Bächli and Eric Hattan’s positions on art are indeed distinct yet harbor more proximities than it appears at first glance. The Centre culturel suisse (CCS) has invited the two artists to dream up together the three spring shows at the center, all three under the title Situer la différence (Situate the Difference).

Silvia Bächli mainly works in drawing. Eric Hattan creates videos, sculptures, and installations. And sometimes they devise joint works of art. Silvia Bächli sees her drawings as words or notes with which she composes “musical phrases” on the wall. Eric Hattan gathers in the street various objects and materials with which he constructs his sculptures and installations. For both artists, the venue is the first thing they turn their attention to when preparing a show.

For the main gallery of the CCS, they have set up a novel spatial articulation in which they have placed a number of recent works. In the courtyard gallery, they are presenting new works in two phases. Starting April 28, the space will feature a series of collages Silvia Bächli has composed which echo poems by Florian Seidel, and an on-site sculpture that Eric Hattan has assembled by recycling furniture elements he scavenged in public areas in Paris. Later, starting June 3, the main gallery will host a project the two will create specifically for CCS.

The two artists have also created a publication that the CCS is making available. This work includes the 1:1 scale reproduction of certain pieces by the artists with the reproductions taking the form of printed sheets that have been folded and inserted in a plastic sleeve. The sleeve comes with a booklet featuring an interview of the two artists by Jean-Paul Felley and Olivier Kaeser, along with a text by Patrick Javault.

Curated by CCS codirectors Jean-Paul Felley & Olivier Kaeser.

Silvia Bächli (born in 1956 in Baden, lives and works in Basel) has exhibited in numerous venues, including Centre Pompidou in 2007, the Swiss Pavilion for the Venice Biennial in 2009, and Frac Franche-Comté in 2015. She was the recipient of the contemporary drawing prize of the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Foundation in 2007, and the Kulturpreis of the City of Basel in 2014.

Eric Hattan (born in 1955 in Wettingen, lives and works in Basel) has shown his work in many institutions, notably MAC VAL in Vitry-sur-Seine in 2010 and Frac PACA in Marseille in 2014, and is currently preparing a project for Kolumba in Cologne for 2017. He was awarded the 2016 Basler Kunstpreis in Basel.

They have done joint projects as well, notably for the Museum für Gegewartskunst in Basel in 1992, the Kunsthalle, Nuremberg, in 2011, and the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes in 2013.

For more details about exhibition and artists: ccsparis.com
www.silviabaechli.ch
www.hattan.ch

Upcoming exhibitions at Centre culturel suisse (September–December 2017)
Ugo Rondinone
Barbezet-Villard (courtyard gallery)
Mathis Gasser (courtyard gallery)