Miriam Cahn - Aargauer Kunsthaus

Media Release
Aarau in January 2015
Miriam Cahn
körperlich – corporel
24 January – 12 April 2015
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
Miriam Cahn (b. 1949) is a leading figure in recent Swiss art. The
works
assembled
at
the
Aargauer
Kunsthaus
bear
witness
to
her
intense preoccupation with the body, while at the same time raising
existential issues regarding current events and social conditions.
Titled körperlich - corporel, the exhibition includes oil paintings,
drawings and photographs from various creative periods as well as an
installation in the courtyard.
Miriam Cahn first garnered national and international attention in the
1970s with expressive black-and-white drawings. Committing her large-scale
drawings to paper while "lying, crawling or squatting" and making full use
of her body, she not only explored her own corporeality, but also
critically reflected on the social conditions of the female and male body
and its attributions. In doing so, the direct proximity to the horizontally
placed paper was conducive to an uncontrolled and spontaneous development
of the works.
Around 1986 Miriam Cahn discovered her fascination with colour, which gave
rise to a series of watercolours titled Atombombe. Searching for new
artistic means of expression, she turned to painting in the 1990s. Back
problems impeded the performative use of her body while drawing on the
floor, which is why the expressive graphite and chalk drawings made way for
intense, brightly colourful paintings in oil.
Human beings, animals, buildings, and plants, as well as frequent
reflections on the body, dominate Miriam Cahn's work. Painted imagery
stands out from the ground, as if it were radiating from the inside. At the
same time, realistic depictions merge with sketchy elements and silhouettes
disappear in the background. Yet the absent, the invisible and the
inexpressible are always palpable in her depictions as well. Miriam Cahn's
oeuvre as a whole bears witness to an intense preoccupation with
existential issues, current events and social conditions, including aspects
such as gender roles and relations, concerns about war and terror, as well
as personal experiences of loss, pain, and death. In her show EREIGNISICH
in Aarau, Miriam Cahn presents new works she created after having been
involved in a serious car accident in early 2014 that has left its marks.
Recently the recipient of the 2014 Oberrheinischer Kunstpreis and the 2013
Basel Art Award, Miriam Cahn is a leading figure in contemporary Swiss art.
Her solo exhibition körperlich - corporel – physical assembles works from
different creative periods, with large- and medium-scale paintings and
drawings from the past three years taking centre stage. An older series of
wall-size chalk drawings titled (strategische orte) landschaften (1986) is
also on view in Aarau. The artist creates an intensive atmospheric space in
her painting series RITUAL, combining the radiant colourfulness of oil
paint with intimate portraits of a family member. Included for the first
time in an institutional exhibition, the sprawling wood piece schlachtfeld
/ alterswerk (2012) is installed in the accessible courtyard, introducing
viewers to a lesser-known aspect of Miriam Cahns work.
By carefully positioning her works in Aargau, the artist creates a dense
energy field, indicating the importance of arranging exhibitions and
reflecting in-depth on space in her artistic work. Like painting and
drawing, the mounting, too, is, for Miriam Cahn, a performative and hence a
physical act.
körperlich – corporel is a joint project with the Centre culturel suisse in
Paris.
Miriam Cahn (b. 1949 Basel, lives and works in Stampa, Val Bregaglia)
From 1968 to 1973 Miriam Cahn attended the graphic arts course at the
Gewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Basel and from 1976 on worked as
an art teacher and scientific illustrator. Subsequently she has worked as
an independent artist.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
Miriam Cahn, Städtische Galerie Offenburg (2014); Galerie Jocelyn Wolff,
Paris (2014); corporel - köperlich, Centre culturel suisse, Paris (2014);
lachen bei gefahr, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2012); meine juden,
atombomben und andere arbeiten, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo (2012); David
Roberts Art Foundation, London (2011) Stiftung Sculpture at Schoenthal,
Kloster Schönthal, Langenbruck (2008) Überdachte Fluchtwege, Kirchner
Museum, Davos (2006); Fundación La Caixa, Madrid (2003); Architekturraum,
Centre Pasqu'Art, Biel (2002); Akademie der bildenden Künste Berlin (Käthe
Kollwitz Preis), Berlin (1998); Umgebung – Was mich anschaut, Kunstverein
Bonn / Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken (1996); Unbennenbar (was mich
anschaut), Kunsthaus Zürich (1993); Musée Rath, Geneva (1988); Centre
Culturel Suisse, Paris (1987); Strategische Orte, DAAD Galerie, Berlin
(1986); Strategische Orte, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Städtisches Kunstmuseum,
Bonn (1985); Das klassische Lieben – Die all-egoistische Frau, Kunsthalle
Basel (1983); STAMPA, Basel (1977)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
humainnonhumain, Fondation d'Enterprise Ricard, Paris (2014); Desiderata,
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2014); Descartes' Daughter, Swiss Institute, New
York (2013); Horizont Schweiz, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2011);
Überdachte Fluchtwege, Kunstmuseum Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel
(2006); Sammlung Van de Loo, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2004); Neue
Räume, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2003); Im Zeichen der Bewegung,
Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern (2002); Szenenwechsel, Museum für moderne Kunst,
Frankfurt/Main (1998); Im Reich der Zeichnung, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
(1998); Alpenblick, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (1997): Szenenwechsel, Museum
für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (1992); Landschaftsbilder, Kunstverein
Hamburg, Hamburg (1989); Zeichnungen, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,
Rotterdam (1987); Stiller Nachmittag, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich (1987);
Cross-Currents in Swiss Art, Serpentine Gallery, London (1985); 41.
Biennale Venedig, Venedig (1984); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1984);
Szene Schweiz, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Köln (1983); WACH RAUM III,
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich (1982); Künstler aus Basel, Kunsthalle Basel,
Basel (1981); Feministische Kunst International, The Hague / Amsterdam
(1979)
Selected Awards and Prizes:
Oberrheinischer Kunstpreis (2014); Basler Kunstpreis (2013); SAM St. Moritz
Art Masters Award (2009); Prix Meret Oppenheim (2005); Käthe Kollwitz Preis
Berlin (1998); DAAD Fellowship, Berlin(1985)
Curator
Madeleine Schuppli, Director, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Curatorial Assistance
Katrin Weilenmann, Assistant Curator, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Publication
A facsimile of a sketchbook by Miriam Cahn is published in conjunction with
the exhibition. Attached to it is a libretto that contains a revised
version of the hand-written text "wir waren alt" included in the
sketchbook, with French and English translations.
1979 – 2005 – 2010, edited by the Centre culturel Suisse, Paris and the
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau. Les présses du réel, 2014, 100 pp.,
ISBN 978-3-905004-38-0
Artist's Edition
Photographs of different subjects, colour and black-and-white.
Limited edition of 30, with 10 artist's proofs, 21 × 29,7 cm each.
For additional information and ordering options see at
www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch
Preview for the Media
Thursday, 22 January 2015, 10 am
Introduction and tour of the exhibition with Madeleine Schuppli;
followed by a reception in the foyer
Exhibition Opening
Friday, 23 January 2015, 6 pm
6.15 pm Welcome address and introduction by Madeleine Schuppli, Director;
followed by a reception in the foyer.
5 – 6 pm Preview for members of the Aargau Art Association
Film Screening (in German)
Daily, starting at 11 am
Film starts every hour on the hour
Miriam Cahn – Ohne Umwege (2004) by Edith Jud (52')
Lecture (in German)
Val Bregaglia – Valley of Artists and Art
Wednesday, 18 February, 6.30 pm
Lecture by Patrizia Guggenheim, art historian, Val Bregaglia, about Val
Bregaglia (Bergell) as a source of inspiration and work base for major
Swiss artists from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century;
followed by a reception.
Admission + CHF 8.–; the exhibition will remain open.
Platform (in German)
Thursday, 12 March, 6.30 pm
Miriam Cahn in conversation with Madeleine Schuppli, Director, Aargauer
Kunsthaus, and guests.
Admission + CHF 12.–. Detailed information available starting mid-January
at www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch
Guided Tours
Thursday 6.30 pm
29 Jan. with Astrid Näff, 12 Feb. with Astrid Näff
Sunday 11 am
1 Feb. mit Katrin Weilenmann, 8 Feb. with Annette Bürgi, 8 Mar. with
Annette Bürgi
Sunday 1 pm
12 Apr. with Astrid Näff
Easter Monday 1 pm
6 Apr. with Astrid Näff
Art Education
Children's Opening
Friday, 23 January 2015, 6 pm
Meet at 6 pm in the studio, lower floor (children of 5 and older)
Children and Families
Art Hunt
Saturday, 21 Feb. / 28 Feb. / 7 Mar. / 14 Mar. / 21 Mar.
10 am – 12.30 pm for ages 9 to 13
Art Hunt
Saturday, 21 Feb. / 28 Feb. / 7 Mar. / 14 Mar. / 21 Mar.
10 am – 12.30 pm for ages 9 to 13
1.30 – 3.30 pm for ages 5 to 8
CHF 50.– / child, for members of the Junior Art Association CHF 25.–
Family Sundays
Sunday, 8 March, 11 am / 1 pm / 3 pm
Interactive guided tour, followed by a workshop in the studio (for
families with children aged 5 and older)
Open Studio
Sunday, 29 March, 11 am – 4 pm
For creative minds of all ages
Adults
Art Picnic
Thursday, 12 March, 12 – 1 pm
Lunchtime tour with creative involvement, sandwich included.
Admission + CHF 10.–
Programme of events for schools, children and families in the separate
art education flyer.
Dates for Art Workshops (school classes) and Art Meets (adults) upon
request: T +41 (0)62 835 23 31, E-Mail: kunstvermittlung@ag.ch
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm, Thursday 10 am – 8 pm
Holiday Opening Hours
Open from 10 am until 5 pm: Holy Thursday 2 Apr., Good Friday 3 Apr.,
Holy Saturday 4 Apr., Easter Sunday 5 Apr., Easter Monday 6 Apr.
Images for the media
Images are available for downloading on our website
www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch> Media. Please consider the copyright.
For additional information please contact:
Madeleine Schuppli, Director Aargauer Kunsthaus,
T +41 (0)62 835 23 30, E-Mail: madeleine.schuppli@ag.ch
Katrin Weilenmann, Assistant Curator, Aargauer Kunsthaus,
T +41 (0)62 835 49 72, E-Mail: katrin.weilenmann@ag.ch
Filomena Colecchia, Communications/Media Relations,
T +41 (0)62 835 23 34, E-Mail: filomena.colecchia@ag.ch