LUCERNE.- XL refers both to the area covered by this year’s exhibition, and to the number of applications; 322 portfolios, meaning over 100 more entries than to date. The six-person jury chose 43 of them for the exhibition.
The 45 artists were born between 1943 and 2008 and stand for several generations of outstanding artistic work in and from the region. The large range of genres extends from classical painting and drawing to sound and video installations, and involves a great thematic diversity: the consequences of digitization are addressed as are art history or the rules of this exhibition. The video work modern love by Judith Albert deals with the significance of proximity in the era of digital technologies. In the work series Diachronos, Deakzession und Massendinghaltung (Diachronos, deaccessioning, and mass record retention) Anna-Sabina Zürrer has created a luminous kinetic sculpture in order to process art and cultural history photographs discarded by libraries and museums.
Some works engage with how the world is being perceived. Sebastian Utzni examined science fiction comics for visions of what the future might look like in 2025 and found surprisingly apt predictions. The series Ist das, was ist? (Is that what it is?) by Julian Stettler also addresses the theme of possible ways of understanding the world, from scientific instruments to shamanic objects. Personal anxieties and collective memories are also reflected on, and the theme of equal rights and participation dealt with by referring to Central Swiss customs. The installation Thunder Extract 1-2025 reflects Nathalie Bissig’s intense preoccupation with Alpine landscapes; she goes in search of ancient narratives about natural forces and asks how people in former times explained thunder and lightning, for example.
Artists: Judith Albert, Samantha Aquilino, Irene Bisang, Nathalie Bissig, Andreas Brunner, Jonas Burkhalter, Martin Bütler, Selina Camenzind, Barbara Davi, Miranda Fierz, Asi Föcker, Jutta Galizia, Stefan Gritsch, Marianne Halter & Mario Marchisella, Gregory Tara Hari, Otto Heigold, Stephanie Hess, Sofia Hintermann, Susanne Hofer, Luzia Imhof, Max Kellenberger, Simon Kindle, Arthur Korsunskyi, Jennifer Kuhn, Markus Kummer, Matteo Laffranchi, Paul Lussi, Guy Markowitsch, Angela Mathis, Benedikt Notter, Sepideh NourManesh, Peter Regli, Christoph Rütimann, Celia & Nathalie Sidler, Bertilla Spinas, Rebekka Steiger, Julian Stettler, Daniella Tuzzi, Sebastian Utzni, Rolf Winnewisser, Gerta Xhaferaj, Maria Zgraggen, Anna-Sabina Zürrer
Jury: Raphael Egil, artist; Martin Gut, artist, board member of Visarte Zentralschweiz; Christian Kathriner, artist; Anna-Brigitte Schlittler, lecturer ZHdK; Eveline Suter, curator Kunstmuseum Luzern, jury president; Barbara Zürcher, curator
Curated by Eveline Suter
