Opening
Wednesday, 5 June 2024
5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Grisebach x kurimanzutto
6 and 7 June 2024, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
8 June 2024, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
10 to 14 June by appointment only

Grisebach Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 14, 8001 Zurich
T +41 76 561 06 41  michele.sandoz@grisebach.com

On the occasion of Zurich Art Weekend, Grisebach invites kurimanzutto (México City and New York) for the inauguration of a new series of collaborative programs conceived by Michèle Sandoz, Managing Director, Grisebach Switzerland.

In line with Grisebach’s mission to nurture Zurich’s position as a hub for cross-cultural dialogues and connections, Michèle Sandoz welcomes Karen-Sofie Kvamme of kurimanzutto for our premiere collaboration.

The exhibition, titled Travel logs, features a selection of works by Gabriel Orozco, Wilfredo Prieto, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Petrit Halilaj, each offering unique representations of their surroundings through diverse approaches and media. This group of international artists, whose practices emerge from, yet are not defined by, one place or origin, blend different cultural contexts to demonstrate how art can bridge geographical barriers and share a confluence of narratives.

Founded in 1999 in Mexico City, kurimanzutto initially operated as an itinerant gallery but has since established two permanent locations in Mexico City and New York. Since its inception, kurimanzutto has engaged in collaborations with diverse cultural spaces and creators worldwide. These collaborations foster conversations between the global and the local, facilitating an exchange of ideas that transcends national borders. This ongoing critical and creative dialogue has remained an integral part of their working process today with the representation of over 40 Mexican and international artists.

Grisebach is honored to begin this new series on Bahnhofstrasse with kurimanzutto.

The eight works on paper from Gabriel Orozco’s (Mexico, 1962) Diario de Plantas (Diary of Plants, 2021–2022) series serve as records of the artist’s travels between Tokyo and his native Mexico. Onto the pages of Japanese notebooks, Orozco applies plant imprints and improvisatory ink stains to construct organic compositions abstracted from nature.

Hidden meaning is also the subject of Wilfredo Prieto’s (Cuba, 1978) Nueva Luz, March 3 (2023), which reflects his daily routine of reading national and international news articles during the pandemic. Prieto abstractly interprets embedded photographs with acrylic on canvas, challenging the factual basis of the original content. The process transforms one medium to another, rendering the content illegible and emphasizing the subjective nature of interpretation.

The impact of semiotics is explored in Rirkrit Tiravanija’s (1961, Buenos Aires) series of slogan works, referencing global events and domestic politics in his native Thailand. In untitled 2020 (Hope has no Right Angles), he etches the slogan onto a rectangular piece of reflective glass, using words and our own reflections as tools of propaganda and advertising that oscillates between truth and deception.

Here to Remind You (2023) by Petrit Halilaj (1986, Kosovo) employs brass to create elongated chicken legs. The work continues Halilaj’s ongoing use of birds as a reference to freedom derived from his childhood experience as a Kosovan refugee. Friends of Chickens (2022) integrates chicken footprints within an egg-shaped brass stencil, merging interior and exterior while serving as a versatile tool and an independent artwork.