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26.05.21

Preview: Marie Matusz

In her Cahier d’Artistes, Marie Matusz presents black-and-white photographs of her great-grandmother’s home, a richly decorated house containing countless reproductions of classical paintings. The year printed on the photos implies that they were taken in 1994 – a technical error that fascinates the artist. For she is not only interested in sociology and linguistics, but also in philosophy and questions regarding the dissolution of time and space. Other groups of works by Marie Matusz depicted in the Cahier d’Artistes deal with topics such as historical and contemporary power structures, nature and justice. Alan Longino describes the mood in her work with a term borrowed from Thomas Gray, leucocholy, meaning a “good easy sort of state”, a “white melancholy”. Terms with which Marie Matusz can identify.

Marie Matusz *1994 Toulouse, lives and works in Basel and Geneva

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26.05.21

Preview: Andreas Hochuli

In his Cahier d’Artistes, Andreas Hochuli presents a catalogue raisonné of his paintings to date. The digitally hung 131 pictures are presented as if by a gliding camera, which is in keeping with his work method involving digital conceptualisation and physical execution. Pictures of bodies are aligned with abstract forms and images of words (e.g. Wohnen, bauen denken [dwelling, building, thinking]). Hochuli is interested in people, their relations and identities, as well as in the current state and future development of society. His works contain references to sociology, music and the history of art. They explore signs and their cultural background, always with an element of humour and often also with a touch of melancholy. The publication is interspersed with texts by the artist, which together with his paintings enter into an associative dialogue with the poetic text written by Ingo Niermann.

Andreas Hochuli *1982 Zürich, lives and works in Geneva

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26.05.21

Preview: Sandra Knecht

Sandra Knecht is well-known for Immer wieder sonntags [Always on Sundays], her unique culinary creations and hosting at “Chnächt”, a barn that she transported from the Jura region to the banks of the Rhine in Basel. Her artistic cooking practice is at the heart of the Cahier d’Artistes and the text by Koyo Kouoh. This practice includes the preservation of her “homeland” as well as a quest for identity through fragrances and taste, hospitality and the exploration of the transformative potential of preparing food and eating together. The monograph also shows how Sandra Knecht uses photography, video, sculpture, and installation as means of processing and expressing key concerns of hers – responsibility, equality and transformation.

Sandra Knecht *1968, lives and works in Buus

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26.05.21

Preview: Elena Montesinos

Elena Montesinos is a cultural agitator in the best possible sense. She bubbles over with ideas for artistic or curatorial projects. These are not always realised, for a variety of reasons: because of exorbitant production costs, because they are rejected outright, because they are too unsettling, or simply because they are illegal. In her Cahier d’Artistes entitled UNRELEASED, 20 unpublished projects are given a literary staging by The Montesinos Foundation. The Cahier offers audiences a journey through Elena Montesinos’ world of fantasy, in which she can realise her activist and transformative potential without restriction. Because collaboration and a variety of voices are so important to her, she invited five of her companions (Samuel Gross, Eve-Marie Knoerle, Irène Languin, Luca Pattaroni and Claude-Hubert Tatot) to write a short text each about different aspects of her work (e.g. ecology and humour).

Elena Montesinos *1971, lives and works in Geneva

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26.05.21

Preview: Ramaya Tegegne

Ramaya Tegegne spotlights mechanisms of dominance and power structures within culture by observing their economics, circulation and historical narratives. She creates performances and installations, and advocates alternative and fair economic practices in the world of arts with a campaign entitled Wages For Wages Against. The aim is to achieve better working conditions and appropriate remuneration for arts practitioners. Ramaya Tegegne’s Cahier d’Artiste presents an overview of her artistic projects and discloses the economic conditions under which they were realised. The accompanying text by Chaédria LaBouvier places her work in contexts of activism, race and gender as well as mutual care (“We Are Each Other’s Business, We Are Each Other’s Harvest”).

Ramaya Tegegne *1985 Geneva, lives and works in Geneva

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26.05.21

Preview: Roman Gysin

Roman Gysin derived inspiration for his Cahier d’Artistes from the design of fashion and interior design magazines, which is not surprising given his predilection for decoration and a camp aesthetic based on everyday culture and its exaggeration. In a playful way, he combines pictures showing his studio with views of his works and photographs that were taken by himself or from his collection. The motives and ornaments of the photographs enter into a fascinating dialogue with his own, skilfully hand-crafted works. In the accompanying text, Sylvain Menétrey explores the links of Gysin’s work to (post-)minimalism and queer aesthetics and explores the means by which the artist effortlessly dissolves the borders between highbrow and popular culture.

Roman Gysin *1984 Möhlin, lives and works in Zürich