Newswise — From 24 October 2003 until 1 February 2004 the Kunsthaus Zürich will be showing the first exhibition of the work of Georgia O'Keeffe initiated by a European art museum.
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) is one of the great figures in 20th-century art. Yet the European public predominantly associates her with the large-format flower pictures familiar from reproductions, posters, postcards and calendars, with totemic images of animal skulls, or with the mythical figure of the artist herself, as she is seen in the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz. Opportunities to view her work in the original in Europe are rare since no European museum has bought any of her paintings nor presented an exhibition of her work in its own right. Most of the 74 works selected by Curator Bice Curiger - paintings, charcoal drawings, watercolours and sculptures - will be on show for the first time in the German-speaking world.
STIEGLITZ AND FRIENDSO'Keeffe's rise to fame began in 1916 in New York when she came into contact with the artists surrounding the photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Born on a farm in Wisconsin in 1887 and ending her life quietly in New Mexico, O'Keeffe lived in male-dominated artistic circles yet adopted distinctly different attitudes and modes of artistic expression to those of her male colleagues. She never signed up to any artistic movement or group. Her work conforms to no actual stylistic development, so that it can at best be grouped according to subject matter or phases in her life.
THE INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN MODERNISMDuring her career Georgia O'Keeffe absorbed various influences. Early on these came from Modernism in Europe and America, later on it was the culture of indigenous North American peoples. Taking these onboard and, at the same time, integrating the optics of photography into her painting she found her own way as an artist, clearly setting herself apart from the European tradition. In the turbulent sense of adventure that pervaded New York in the early 20th century, Georgia O'Keeffe enjoyed success as an artist, painting bold shapes in bold colours: the first of her skyscrapers reaching up into the heavens, flowers in extreme close-up that filled the whole picture plane. As she did so she was also discovering an inner affinity with the New Mexico desert where the vast expanses and openness of the scenery were the inspiration for her magnificent landscape paintings. O'Keeffe's ability to reduce motifs to their essence, to interweave close-ups and distances, monumentality and intimacy, became the distinguishing characteristics of her work. Her stylised motifs were to become the precursors of Pop Art.
THE PSYCHE, HUMANITY AND TIMEHuman beings are invariably absent from O'Keeffe's paintings. Yet that is not their most salient feature. More importantly there is a floating balance between the personal and the supra-personal, between the collective and the individual, between corporeality and spirituality. The creased landscapes of New Mexico striving for the skies above, the facades and the shadows, the variations on crosses, fragments of animals and plants all speak of time. Flowers denote the ephemeral; the skies and geological formations tell of eternity; architecture, skulls and bones represent what lies between the two - intrinsically fragile. In the monumental late cloud pictures Georgia O'Keeffe seems literally to be above everything: here all things are open and illuminated by an inner light.
CATALOGUEThe exhibition is accompanied by a 220-page catalogue 'Georgia O'Keeffe' (published by the Kunsthaus Zürich) with contributions by Bice Curiger, Carter Ratcliff and Peter J. Schneemann as well statements by artists including Maurizio Cattelan, Jeff Koons, Pipilotti Rist, Laurie Simmons, Robert Wilson and Robert Colescott. The catalogue in German and English appears under the imprint of Hatje Cantz Publishers and is available in the Kunsthaus Shop and in book shops.
WEBSITEThe exhibition website - at http://www.kunsthaus.ch - contains details of the artist's life and work, statements by other artists on the 'O'Keeffe Myth' and useful information for visitors.
LITERARY KUNSTHAUS NIGHT ON THE O'KEEFFE MYTHOn Saturday 15th November, from 7 p.m. until midnight, Sibylle Berg, Patrick Frey and other writers will explore the phenomenon Georgia O'Keeffe from a literary point of view.
A contribution to culture by Credit Suisse.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Georgia O'Keeffe24 October 2003 - 1 February 2004
Kunsthaus Zürich, Heimplatz 1, CH-8001 Zurich, Tel. +41 1 253 84 84
Open: Tues-Thurs 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Opening Times on Public Holidays 24th December 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 25th December closed, 26th December 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 31st December 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 1st/2nd January 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission including audio guide (German, French and English)CHF 17.- / 11.- (concessions). Groups of 20 or more CHF 13.- per head
Advance Ticket Sales/Special OfferSwiss Rail can offer a special package - RailAway (covering travel and admission to the Kunsthaus). Available in all Swiss stations. Tel. +41 0900 300 300 (CHF. 1.19 per min.), http://www.railaway.ch.
Advance Ticket Sales are available in Germany at Art Cities in EuropeTel: +49 7531 9073-0.
Public Guided ToursCHF 4.- per person, limited numbers. Tickets only available immediately prior to each tour.
In German: Tues and Thurs at 12.15 a.m., Wed 6.30 p.m., Fri 3 p.m., Sun 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
In English Sat 15.11.2003, 13.12.2003 and 10.01.2004 at 11 a.m.
Private Guided ToursReservations may be made with immediate effect Tel. +41 1 253 84 84 (Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-midday)
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