Focusing on Swiss Contemporary Art

It took quite while before contemporary art met with the same acceptance "classical" modern art enjoyed. Exhibitions showing contemporary art were a rarity still in the 1980s, especially those focusing on Swiss art. With over thirty years of dedication to its cause, the Kunst Heute Foundation decisively influenced how the international art-world—and Switzerland itself—view Swiss contemporary art, and in the process strongly impacted sponsorship and collecting.

A Collection that Pioneered the Way for the Future
Bernese art historian Marianne Gerny-Schild and patron of the arts and collector Donald M. Hess established the Kunst Heute Foundation in 1982 in order to foster interest in contemporary art among the wider public and to preserve contemporary art approaches for future generations. With its seat in Bern and over the period in which it was active, the foundation dedicated itself to building up a collection of “the most recent art trends” in Switzerland, doggedly pursuing the foundation’s objectives. It guaranteed proximity to the contemporary art scene through purchasing commissions that were made up of young art agents and artists, appointing them anew on a regular basis. The only stipulation they had to adhere to was that they buy works by artists of their respective generations and with regard to the museum-suitability of the artworks. This proved to be an especially felicitous strategy. By being anchored in the different art scenes over the years, the members of the commission were able to accrue key works of in-the-meantime international stars, such as Pipilotti Rist, Thomas Hirschhorn or John Armleder.

Entwinement Between the Human Being and the World
The exhibition is mounting a themed presentation of installations, paintings, art videos and collages from the collection of the Kunst Heute Foundation. As the title of the show reveals, we always encounter every single work of art in the here and now, and therefore we must inevitably ask in what way is it relevant to us today. For the exhibition, we selected works that explore the distinguishing characteristics of the globalized world comprising our reality at present, probing how we, as individuals, are inevitably interlinked with the world. The first section consists of artworks that offer views of how their makers see the world. The second section engages with people as subject and construction of identity. A third section explores our environments and how they are impacted by structures we create, which in turn influence our behavior. Finally, the works in the fourth section investigate how historiography functions and what today’s culture finds worth passing on to posterity.

Our Exhibition Series of Contemporary Art from the Collection
After Don’t Look Now (2010) and Meret’s Sparks (2012), this exhibition is the third of a series of themed presentations of the collection from our Department of Contemporary Art at the Kunstmuseum Bern, which we are mounting on a regular basis. It is accompanied by an extensive catalogue, published by Kerber Verlag.  

Contact person: Brigit Bucher, , Tel.: +41 31 328 09 21
Images: Marie Louise Suter, , Tel.: +41 31 328 09 53

Images & Documentaions