Emma Kunz Cosmos

The fascination with Emma Kunz (1892–1963) has never been greater than it is today. At the same venue where her work was discovered in 1973, the oeuvre of the Aargau researcher, healer and artist is presented alongside contemporary artistic practices. The latter reflect on Kunz’ work or particular topics related to her field of activity.

Kunz is once said to have predicted that a time would come when her paintings would be understood. In fact, much of what she anticipated in her holistic thought and practice seems quite natural in today’s art. Living a secluded life far removed from the art scene, she exemplified an expanded concept of art, rejected the idea of art versus non-art and instead opened it up to a wide range of aspects—research, medicine, nature study and the supernatural, the magical, the visionary. Kunz based her drawings on questions. She mapped the answers on graph paper with the use of a pendulum.

On the principle of repetition and appropriation, she also reused finished drawings and re-explored them. The exhibition includes around sixty of these drawings, many of which are being shown for the first time. The dialogue with recently produced works by fifteen contemporary artists displays new and unfamiliar angles of an oeuvre that is highly contemporary in a time where traditional categories need to be critically questioned.

Artists
Agnieszka Brzeżańska (b. 1972 in Gdansk) / Dora Budor (b. 1984 in Zagreb) / Sirah Foighel Brutmann & Eitan Efrat (both b. 1983 in Tel Aviv) / Athene Galiciadis (b. 1978 in Altstätten) / Florian Graf (b. 1980 in Basel) / Joachim Koester (b. 1962 in Copenhagen) / Emma Kunz (1892 in Brittnau–1963 in Waldstatt) / Goshka Macuga (b. 1967 in Warsaw) / Shana Moulton (b. 1976 in Oakhurst, California) / Rivane Neuenschwander (b. 1967 in Belo Horizonte) / Mai-Thu Perret (b. 1976 in Geneva) / Lea Porsager (b. 1981 in Frederikssund) / Tabita Rezaire (b. 1989 in Paris) / Mathilde Rosier (b. 1973 in Paris) / Lauryn Youden (b. 1989 in Vancouver)

Publication
The comprehensive accompanying publication (G/E) with essays by Yasmin Afschar, Lars Bang Larsen and Elise Lammer as well as interviews with the contemporary artists is published by Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich and edited by Yasmin Afschar, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau. Works by Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Joachim Koester, Goshka Macuga, Shana Moulton, Rivane Neuenschwander, Mai-Thu Perret and others address topics related to Emma Kunz’ oeuvre and, in doing so, provide a fresh look at it. The essay by curator Yasmin Afschar on the reception history of Emma Kunz’ work is based on comprehensive research: for the first time, sources such as interviews with contemporary witnesses, photographic material from the estate, press reports, etc. were analysed to establish how the reception of Kunz’ work has changed since its first public presentation in 1973 at the Aargauer Kunsthaus. An innovative exhibition tour through 3D laser scan technology complements the book.

Edition Aargau Art Association
Athene Galiciadis: Spiral 47, 2021
Screen printing on paper, 60 × 60 cm
Ed. 25 + 5 AP

Publication and edition are available at the museum shop or shop.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

Provisional event programme 
Wednesday, April 14, 6:30pm
Thomas Hirschhorn. Lecture “Healing through Art”
Live-stream of a talk by artist Thomas Hirschhorn & Yasmin Afschar, curator Emma Kunz Cosmos, Aargauer Kunsthaus

Saturday, May 8, 6pm
Performance by artist Lauryn Youden in the Emma Kunz Grotto, Würenlos, preceded by a special guided tour through the exhibition Emma Kunz Cosmos, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau

Saturday, May 22
Emma Kunz Today – Special Programme for Finissage
A day based entirely around the idea of Emma Kunz’s topicality in contemporary art—with performances, tours of the exhibition with the artists and a podium discussion with the most important experts

Events may change due to the current situation. For updates: www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch