Karlheinz Weinberger
Intimate Stranger
February 9–March 26, 2011
495 Broadway 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10012
T 212-925-2035
F 212-925-2040
info [at] swissinstitute.net
For most of his adult life, Karlheinz Weinberger worked by day in the warehouse department of the Siemens-Albis factory in Zurich. In his free time, however, he escaped monotony by immersing himself in photography. Self-taught and working under the pseudonym of Jim, Weinberger began his artistic career by taking pictures for a gay underground club, Der Kreis, which published the eponymous magazine.
In 1958, Weinberger met members of a small band of teenagers and began photographing them both at his home, as well as at the public parks and fairgrounds where the group gathered. In post-war Switzerland, these self-named “rebels” (referred to by the Swiss as “Halbstark” or “half strong”) were comprised of working class boys and girls dissatisfied by the conservative climate of the day. They adopted a powerful gang identity expressed in their self styled and homemade clothing—embellished jeans, motorcycle jackets, enlarged belt buckles—which referenced and emulated American icons Marlon Brando (in The Wild One), James Dean (in Rebel Without a Cause), Elvis Presley (in the film and album Jailhouse Rock).
The clandestine phase of Weinberger’s work is the impetus behind the exhibition at Swiss Institute. Weinberger inhabited the role of an intimate stranger, capturing the unfiltered attitude of a generation while processing and developing the objects of his gaze in his home photo laboratory. Although created decades ago, Weinberger’s photographs have remained accessible to a relatively small group of people. They were not meant to be artworks, rather they are vestiges of a personal obsession. Beyond the documentary value of Weinberger’s work, his photos, in their triumph over objectivity, are a genuine contribution to the history of portraiture.
Curated by Gianni Jetzer in collaboration with the Karlheinz Weinberger Estate, Warth and Artist Resources Management, New York. A concurrent show is at Anna Kustera Gallery, New York
About Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York
Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art is a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery operating in New York City since 1986. As a truly international space for contemporary art, we occupy an ambitious, boundary-crossing role in NYC, fostering interaction between American, Swiss and European artists and audiences. Our institution operates as a European Kunsthalle, presenting cutting-edge art within a forward-thinking intellectual framework. Because we have no collection and no responsibilities to the art market, all our energy is directed towards the realization of artistic and curatorial projects. An additional vital part of our programming is an ambitious series of events that create crucial opportunities to weave contemporary art into the fabric of everyday life.
