Dialogue between Two Masters of Color
Itten–Klee. Cosmos of Color, 30.11.2012 – 01.04.2013
The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern palpably illustrates Johannes Itten’s and Paul Klee’s study of color with key works by both artists. They were two pivotal figures in the area of color theory and comprehensively integrated their reflections on color in their artistic work. The exhibition is the first show to present Johannes Itten and Paul Klee as two artists mutually pursuing an ideal.
Multifaceted Word and Visual Artist
«Zur Unzeit gegeigt...». Otto Nebel, painter and poet, 09.11.2012 – 24.02.2013
The Kunstmuseum Bern is presenting a large overview exhibition of Otto Nebel’s visual and literary oeuvre. Born in Berlin in 1882 and died in 1973, Otto Nebel emigrated to Bern in 1933 where he pursued his multifaceted artistic activities. Additionally the poet and painter worked as an actor and narrator. The exhibition concentrates on the interdependencies between Nebel’s visual and literary forms of representation — like many of the early 20th-century avant-garde, he experimented in both media.
Media Release
Artistic freedom yesterday and now
Meret’s Sparks. Surrealisms Contemporary Swiss Art, 19.10.2012 – 10.02.2013
Our big fall exhibition is the kick-off for the approaching season of homages to Meret Oppenheim in 2013. In this year Meret Oppenheim would have celebrated her 100th birthday were she still alive today. In 2013 exhibitions commemorating this exceptional artist will be taking place in Vienna and Berlin. Our exhibition traces how various contemporary artistic creations are inspired by Meret Oppenheim’s art and ideas: Some 50 works by the outstanding surrealist woman artist enter into a dialogue with sculptures and paintings by the young Swiss artists Maya Bringolf, Vidya Gastaldon, Tatjana Gerhard, Elisabeth Llach and Francisco Sierra.
Media Release
Delight in Variety and Experiment
Herbert Distel. An Homage with Works from the Collection, 28.08. – 07.10.2012
To celebrate the 70th birthday of Bern artist Herbert Distel (b. 1942), the Kunstmuseum Bern is presenting an homage to this versatile contemporary artist. As a painter, filmmaker, sculptor, video and sound, installation and conceptual artist, Herbert Distel experiments with a highly diverse range of media. Projekt Canaris (Canaris project, 1970) and Das Schubladenmuseum (The museum of drawers, 1970-1977) are counted among his most famous artworks or events. The works exhibited from the Kunstmuseum Bern’s collection cover all the different phases of the artist’s career and offer a small but concentrated overview of his oeuvre.
Media Release
Revolutionarily Expressive
Antonio Saura. The Retrospective, 06.07. – 11.11.2012
Antonio Saura (1930-1998), a leading 20th-century artist, was one of the most influential champions of Spanish painting in his epoch. His work is represented internationally in all major collections of modern art. Together with the Fondation archives antonio saura in Geneva, the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Museum Wiesbaden have organized a comprehensive retrospective illustrating the scope and complexity of Saura’s art with some 200 works.
Media Release
An Unremitting yet Gentle Point of View
Zarina Bhimji, 01.06. – 02.09.2012
In collaboration with the renowned Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Kunstmuseum Bern is presenting the first retrospective on British photographer, filmmaker, and installation artist Zarina Bhimji. With a criticism marked by gentleness and a poetic touch, Zarina Bhimji tackles the complex subjects of migration, globalization, and post-colonial history.
Media Release
Hermann Hesse’s dual talents in painting and poetry
«... die Grenzen überfliegen». Hermann Hesse the painter, 26.03. – 12.08.2012
Hesse did not see himself as an author or painter and instead considered himself an artist. His comprehensive notions of art kept the dividing line between the various arts fluid. As a poet Hesse was long seen to be a controversial figure despite the fact that he was given the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947. Also as a painter Hesse had to wait a long time before art criticism no longer ignored him.
Media Release
Intensely Embracing
Sean Scully. Grey Wolf - Retrospective, 09.03. - 24.06.2012
The Kunstmuseum Bern is showing a comprehensive retrospective of Irish-American artist Sean Scully (b. 1945), a leading representative of abstract contemporary art. Scully creates a surprising scope of strongly atmospheric artworks. The exhibition and catalogue were produced in close cooperation with the artist. Scully comments on the large-scale paintings hanging in the show, comments that we find repeated together with the plates in the catalogue. Scully’s statements open up new perspectives on his art.
Media Release
The Magic of Precision
Industrious - Marco Grob & hiepler, brunier, 02.03. - 06.05.2012
Portrait photographer Marco Grob and photographer duo David Hiepler and Fritz Brunier took pictures of employees and production plants around the world in a very unique project for the centennial anniversary of the Holcim Group, the Swiss-based international supplier of building materials. The Kunstmuseum Bern is presenting a curatorial selection from the photographic project Industrious – comprising new fine-art photography making masterful statements in large-format black-and-white pictures.
Media Release
Art analog and digital
Annual Media Conference
The Kunstmuseum Bern is presenting a highly varied exhibition program in 2012. With our guests Sean Scully, Antonio Saura, and Zarina Bhimji, we are featuring internationally renowned artists. Furthermore, we will be presenting artists closely affiliated to Bern, as is the case with Meret Oppenheim, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Hermann Hesse, and Otto Nebel. The photographers Marco Grob, Fritz Hiepler and David Brunier will launch our annual program. In 2012, the Kunstmuseum Bern is pursuing new avenues by expanding its use of social media channels to bring art analog and digitally to a broader audience.
Media Release