This winter works by more than 20 of Switzerland’s most famous contemporary artists — including Pipilotti Rist, Urs Fischer, Thomas Hirschhorn, Christian Marclay, Roman Signer (work pictured), and Ugo Rondinone — will go on view in the Swiss city of Gstaad and in the mountains that loom large over the popular winter sport destination. Curated by Neville Wakefield and artist Olympia Scarry, the LUMA& Foundation-produced exhibition, “Elevation 1049: Between Heaven and Hell,” will run January 27-March 8, 2014, and be free to the public. But you’ll need to bring your own snow boots to see the whole thing.
The specially commissioned works will be installed throughout Gstaad, a picturesque and upscale ski town (Switzerland’s Aspen, if you will), and on the slopes surrounding the city, leading visitors on a journey of discovery through the city and its spectacular landscape. Some pieces will be on view in easily accessible locales, like the town’s train station, main thoroughfare, and ice skating rink, while intrepid art lovers will have to seek out others on a glacier, in an alpine hut, and other hard-to-reach spaces.
The exhibition aims to provide a platform and spark discussion around contemporary art in Gstaad, which lacks a major visual art institution. The sprawling exhibition will include collateral shows and a performance program. In addition to Wakefield and Scarry, the LUMA& Foundation has tapped the impressive triumvirate of Hans Ulrich Obrist, Beatrix Ruf, and Fondation Beyeler director Sam Keller as advisers for the exhibition.
— Benjamin Sutton
(Image: Roman Signer, “Haus mit Raketen,” 1981. Photo: Emil Grubenmann. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth; copyright Roman Signer.)