Exhibition

  • Readymades Belong to Everyone: Swiss Institute Annual Architecture and Design Series, Third Edition
    Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen
    Curators
    Swiss Institute, New York
    Jun 21, 2018 to Aug 12, 2018
  • GRANTEE
    Swiss Institute
    GRANT YEAR
    2016

OFFICE Kersten Geers and David Van Severen, Korea City Hall, 2015. Courtesy of the artists.

On occasion of the Swiss Institute's 3rd Annual Architecture and Design series, the exhibition brings together contemporary artists and architects to discuss the influence of the avant-garde strategy of the readymade in both disciplines. In the last hundred years, the concept of the readymade has had a defining impact on artistic and architectural production that creates new links between the fields and manifests how they inspire and inform each other. Curated by the codirectors of gta Exhibitions in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, this exhibition will investigate the various conceptions of the readymade in art and architecture, define their divergent typologies, and explore their relationship to one another.

Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen are curators based in Zurich, and codirectors of gta Exhibitions at the ETH Zurich. Together, they initiated the exhibition space STUDIOLO and the publication series STUDIOLO/Edition Patrick Frey. They have curated numerous exhibitions, including 69/96 (with Bob Nickas) at Gebert Foundation; Keiichi Tanaami at Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Friedrich Kuhn at Herald St., London; and The Log-O-Rithmic at GAMeC, Bergamo. Their ecent publications include Ashley Bickerton: SUSIE, William Leavitt: The Particles, and Trix and Robert Haussmann. Their regular column, "Pioneers," appears in Kaleidoscope magazine.

Simon Castets is director and curator of Swiss Institute and cofounder of 89-plus, a research project that investigates the generation of artists born after the introduction of the Internet. He holds an MA in curatorial studies from Columbia University and an MA in cultural management from Sciences Po, Paris. His works include exhibitions at Palais Tokyo, Paris; Federico Vavassori, Milan; Karma International, Zurich; Yvon Lambert, Paris; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Kyoto, among others. His writing has appeared in publications such as Mousse, PIN UP, Artforum, Flash Art, and Kaleidoscope.

Swiss Institute (SI) is an independent, non-profit contemporary art institution founded in 1986 dedicated to promoting forward-thinking and experimental art making through innovative exhibitions and programs. Committed to the highest standards of curatorial and educational excellence, SI serves as a platform for emerging artists, catalyzes new contexts for celebrated work, and fosters appreciation for under-recognized positions. Open to the public free-of-charge, SI seeks to explore how a national perspective can foster international conversations in the fields of visual and performing arts, design, and architecture.