Friday, October 05, 2007

Remembering a sunny summer Sunday - ArtPosition'07 in Payerne

Hello again!

It's way past the time to go home and have supper, but I've so long wanted to post some photographic impressions of what is quite rapidly becoming a huge public success in the Swiss art scene, so here goes -- this is going to be another blogón, a big post. Thank you for bearing with me.

ArtPosition is a yearly art exhibition for regional (and wannabee) artists. It is held each August inside and outside a concrete hangar on the military airfield at Payerne, Switzerland. I was there for the first time this year and was struck by the unusual setting -- what a great way to use a military structure. Way to go!

Here are some impressions of the actual hangar, inside and out, to get us into the mood, including art works by artists whose names I've not taken the trouble to find out (With my apologies! if you're the artist, please get in touch through the comment platform and I'll make sure you're given due credit.)
Not to worry, that's not a bomb but a fuel tank.
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Some of the pieces that really impressed me:
Ceramic sculptures by Judith Stucki (above and below).Michel Riedo, "Emblème sauvage" (above)
Above and below: Marie-Chantal Collaud Fragnière, "Banc de sable" 2007 -- this is what an imaginative spirit can make of a scrunched-up, rusty heap of venetian blinds.
Again Marie-Chantal Collaud Fragnière, "Laissez le moi encore un peu mon amoureux, un jour, deux jours, 8 jours… (E. Piaf)" 2007:
It was one of the more popular pieces in the show, not least for its evocative title.
Feo Eggimann, "Yellow Window", juxtaposed with this almost perfect cube of black granite ("Sirius", also by Feo Eggimann):
The lighter specks only show up in the photograph; with the naked eye you can scarcely see them in this piece."Sirius" seems to be blended into or float on its white pedestal.
Another contrast: "Installation", by Christina Wendt:
For those who have problems reading the caption nearly obliterated by my flash: "The best things in life are still made by hand." ;)
Cheeky, isn't she! :)

Claude Büchler (Sweden/Switzerland), Board prints, Grödinger technique (above) -- sorry for the poor quality, but I'm hoping this will give an impression of the ephemeral quality of these beautiful prints. Quite lovely. ("velvet moon", "night sky", "greyhorizon IV")
Above: a magnificent pencil drawing by Li Trieb (untitled, but I'd like to call it a seascape).
Above: Lilly Keller (untitled) -- she's one of the grandes dames des beaux arts of Bern. Love this piece!
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Outside sculptures:
Urs Ernst, "Parlatina" (?) (above)
Jean-Luc Metthez, "Janus" (above and below)
"Point de vue" by Jean-Luc Metthez (?) -- one of the more impressive sculptures that day.
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Finally, a few "gros plan" photos:Above: Walter Hofer, "Wandzeitung", "Leser"
Thank you. Come back soon, and tell me, do you agree with Anatole France, who said this: "In art, as in love, instinct is enough."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't agree that in art instinct is enough. Art requires dedication, inspiration and simple work. Many people claim not to be able to draw or paint but never take the time to actually learn the techniques. It is only through hard work and acquiring skills to a level that they can be used intuitively that you can then produce art, I would assume the same goes for music. In all things creative, you need to move past the level of having to wrestle with the medium to a point where the creative part of the brain rather than the logical part of the brain kicks in. To simply say that it is instinctive is over simplification. If art was simply the product of instinct it would be fairly commonplace and almost valueless.

Let's give artist and performers their dues and respect them as both workers and talented people.

A.