A Sunday in the Mountains
July 3–August 25, 2013
Swiss Institute
18 Wooster Street
New York, NY
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday 12–6pm
Subway / N / R / Q / 6 to Canal Street
Christoph Büchel, Valentin Carron, Fischli/Weiss, Fabrice Gygi, Thomas Hirschhorn, Dieter Meier, Olivier Mosset, Gianni Motti, Elodie Pong, Philip W. Sauber, Albert Steiner, Roman Signer, Jean Tinguely, Karlheinz Weinberger, Andreas Züst
Curated by Gianni Jetzer
Since the birth of Dada in Zurich almost one hundred years ago, the mindset of fire starters has been a common denominator in Swiss art. Artists love to challenge law and order, manifesting a deep sympathy for counter-culture, some even bordering on sabotage and anarchism.
In 2006, Swiss author Daniel de Roulet gained international attention for his non-fiction novel A Sunday in the Mountains. In it he makes a stirring confession to an arson attack on the chalet of German publisher Axel Springer. Thirty years after the incident took place, de Roulet recalls a love affair that culminated in an act of terrorism.
Switzerland has an ongoing reputation as a safe haven. The small country is seemingly lulled into a sense of security, relegating the subversive to the arts. Or, as the case may be, the Swiss’ laissez-faire attitude serves as a means to smothering simmering rebellion.
A more contemporary generation of Swiss artists still employ revolutionary ideas, sabotage, or simply explosives as vehicles in their work. Despite the fact that these art pieces pose a purely hypothetical hazard, they emit the aura of counter-culture.
About Swiss Institute
Swiss Institute has grown from a showcase of Swiss art and artists for a mostly Swiss audience into an innovative international venue for art that provides a significant forum for cultural dialogue between Switzerland, Europe, and the United States. This unique angle fosters interaction between the Swiss and many other communities and nationalities found in New York City. The result is a distinctive view of art and a way of thinking which asks audiences to break with traditional assumptions about art and national stereotypes.
