Heidi Bucher: Beyond the Skins
Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing
Through January 21, 2024
Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing
Red Brick Art Museum presents a major retrospective exhibition entitled "Heidi Bucher: Beyond the Skins", featuring the avant-garde artist HEIDI BUCHER (1926-1993). Regarded as one of the most significant but widely overlooked artists of the 20th century, Heidi Bucher's showcase is curated by Yan Shijie with assistance from Yan Zi. For the first time in China, this exhibition presents over 100 of her important works, including rediscovered and restored visual materials, early paintings on paper, abstract silk collages, wearable sculptures from her time in Los Angeles, her iconic "skinning" series that explores the relationship between architecture and the human body, and her later works created on Lanzarote Island. These transformative artworks delve into human psychology and spatial connections while also addressing important themes of gender, society, and politics that are central to her artistic expression.
In 1983, at the age of 57, Heidi Bucher set foot on Lanzarote, Spain, a volcanic island situated amid the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounded by stretches of black lava and volcanic ash — “source of immersion and trust in the primal and the natural”, this has become the place where her finds inspiration.
In 1992, she created her final artwork, "La Vida El Muerte" (Life Death), using an old tree trunk to craft a cupboard. Inside were two sacks filled with volcanic ash, one labeled "Life" and the other "Death," both signed with her initials "H.B." Her son, Indigo Bucher, wondered, "Are these bags a ticket from her own life and death? Was she sending these to herself with the essence of life, using Picon (lava ash from Lanzarote) inside? "
Gazing back at Heidi Bucher's artistic journey, her true beginning can be traced back to 1972 when she showcased "Bodyshells" at Venice Beach in Los Angeles. This piece of artwork, along with "Bodywrappings," denoted her first independent series after years of collaboration with her husband, Carl Bucher. This series continued the concept of "Landings to Wear," which involved strolls on Manhattan streets and the transformation of static sculptures into dynamic, wearable, three-dimensional art. During that time, the United States was experiencing a vibrant wave of feminist movements. In Los Angeles, Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro founded the feminist art project "Woman House." As a member, Heidi Bucher actively supported "Woman House" and participated in one of its exhibitions. Her time in Los Angeles undoubtedly laid the foundation for her future artistic endeavors.
In 1973, after returning from Los Angeles to Switzerland, where women had just attained suffrage rights in 1971, Heidi Bucher divorced her husband due to creative differences. She rented an underground, windowless cold storage room in Zurich and transformed the former butcher shop into her personal studio. The studio, known as "Borg," marked the beginning of her independent artistic journey, separate from being someone's wife or daughter. In this "safe" space of self-discovery, she embarked on her most groundbreaking creations.
Bucher invented a unique method where she directly "peeled" the interior of spaces like "skin" using latex, a process she dubbed "metamorphosis." During this period, she also employed a mixture of latex and shells to preserve old clothing, creating a texture on the surface that resembled skin in both color and quality. These latex works exuded a distinctly feminine element, featuring items such as pillows, blankets, and even underwear and socks. They not only captured the wrinkles and folds of the garments but also preserved the personal history of their owners.
After her first spatial "skinning" work, "Borg" (1976), Heidi Bucher embarked on a series of architectural "skinnings" related to private domains, including her father's "Gentlemen's Study" (1978) and the "skinning" series of her parental home, which began in 1980. These works delved into a deeper exploration of power dynamics within the family. Bucher believed that the architectural spaces she inhabited and interacted with were not just composed of bricks and cement but also containers of gendered memories and experiences. As she "cleaned" away traces of the past in these rooms during the "skinning" process, it symbolized an imaginative detachment from the patriarchal family structure. Bucher viewed the physical exertion during this process as a form of spiritual liberation.
In the 1980s, Heidi Bucher's "skinning" work expanded beyond private spaces to include public sites with collective historical memories. In 1983, Bucher conducted "skinning" and a performance at the former site of the Le Landeron women's prison. In 1987, she performed "skinning" on the long-abandoned Grand Hôtel Brissago, a place that had once been used to detain Jewish women and children during World War II.
In 1988, Heidi Bucher sought out an abandoned private psychiatric clinic once run for four generations by the Binswanger family, the Bellevue Sanatorium in Bad Kreuzlingen, on Lake Constance. Dr. Binswanger collaborated with the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, and co-published the book "Studies on Hysteria" (the term hysteria being derived from the Greek word hystera, which means uterus.) Throughout the early 20th century, psychiatrists attributed "hysteria" to women's biological characteristics, leading to the violation of many women's human rights. Curatorial Assistant Yan Zi described the floating artwork "The Parlour Office of Doctor Binswanger" as "a soul-like bodyshell, resembling a confession, an association about rituals, mourning and commemorating the countless persecuted women here, exposing and exhibiting their memories, liberating them from the shackles of the past..."
From her days as a student studying fashion design to becoming an artist, Bucher consistently transcended her era, both in her concepts and creations. Curator Yan Shijie stated, "'Bodyshells' marks the first step on Bucher's path to self-liberation. Beginning with "skinning" her parental home, she attempted to break free from the constraints of the patriarchal and cultural norms of that time. The prison 'skinning' marked her entry into the realm of public spaces with political and historical significance. She decoded the power dynamics of knowledge production through her interpretation of the psychiatric clinic where "Studies on Hysteria" originated. By "skinning" the hotel where women and children were once incarcerated by the Nazis, she confronted collective historical oblivion. The "skins" she created became her embodiment."
Curatorial Assistant Yan Zi remarked, "Heidi Bucher's artworks are like energized fossils, narrating the memories and traces of an era, shifting people's perceptions to the profound meanings beyond the material. As a significant artist of the 20th century who has been overlooked in mainstream art history narratives, Heidi Bucher's works have withstood the test of time, eventually gaining recognition within the art world. They continue to thrive, seamlessly intertwining with the tapestry of time, leaving an indelible and profound impact..."
Curator: Yan Shijie
Curatorial Assistant: Yan Zi
Organised by Red Brick Art Museum
Supported by: The Estate of Heidi Bucher, Art Sonje Center, Embassy of Switzerland in China
HEIDI BUCHER - BIOGRAPHY
Heidi Bucher (b. 1926, Winterthur, Switzerland; d. 1993, Brunnen, Switzerland) was a Swiss artist who is best remembered for her innovative use of latex and exploration of the physical boundaries between the body and its surroundings. Serving simultaneously as means of historical preservation and metaphorical molting, Bucher’s Hauträume—or “roomskins”—act as indexes of the complicated relationship humans have to their bodies and pasts. Working across the United States, Switzerland, and the Canary Islands, Bucher forged a practice anchored in familial, cultural, and architectural histories and deeply entwined with contemporary concerns around the boundaries between public and private space, and femininity and the body. Though Bucher’s many bodies of work—from her early drawings and wearable sculptures to her later latex-encased objects and Hauträume—each reflect distinct artistic interests and origins, they all trace back to the artist’s mantra, which uniquely summarizes her career-long engagement with bodies and rooms: Räume sind Hüllen, sind Häute (Spaces are shells, are skins).
Beginning in the 1970s, Heidi Bucher embalmed clothing in a mixture of latex and mother of pearl, preserving the objects as artifacts of their time and creating a surface that appeared skin-like in both color and texture. Bucher primarily used women’s clothing, such as nightdresses and pantyhose, as a critical response to the rigid gender restrictions she had experienced during her childhood and adolescence. By the end of the decade, Bucher began applying her signature latex medium to the surfaces of domestic objects and spaces, aligning women’s clothing with these designated “feminine” spaces. Allowing the latex mixture to harden, then peeling it off, Bucher produced translucent skins that held elements of paint, rust, dirt, and the minute details and markings of the architecture. During the years that followed, Bucher produced several major bodies of work based on the domestic spaces of her past—her ancestral house in Winterthur, the study in her parents’ home, and her studio in Zurich. Each space she inhabited was rendered translucent and ghostly, like a visual memory that, due to the fragile nature of the latex material, would warp and discolor over time. Displayed suspended mid-air, the series of latex Hauträume are simultaneously monumental and fragile, mimicking the very process by which they are created; the removal of the latex from the architectural space required a great deal of both physical strength and delicate dexterity.
Later in her career, Heidi Bucher expanded her practice to engage with public spaces, such as Swiss hotels, government offices, and mental health institutions. Today, her work exists in many surviving drawings, sculptures, and fragments, as well as in the photographs and videos which were often integral to the documentation and even creation of each body of latex works.
Heidi Bucher attended the School for Applied Arts in Zurich from 1942 to 1946, specializing in Fashion Design. Solo exhibitions of her work have been organized at Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea (2023); Muzeum Susch, Zernez, Switzerland (2022); Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland (2022); Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2021); Parasol Unit, London, United Kingdom (2018); Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, New York, NY (2014); Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, France (2013); Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2004); Kunstmuseum Thurgau, Warth-Weiningen, Switzerland (1993); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA (1972); Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal, Canada (1971); and Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY (1971) among others. Recent group exhibitions featuring her work include Textile Garden, Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Switzerland (2022); GIGANTISME — ART & INDUSTRIE, Fonds régional d’art contemporain du Nord-Pas de Calais, Dunkirk, France (2019); Entropy, I write your name, Le Magasin, Grenoble, France (2019); The Psyche as Political Arena, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany (2019); In the Shadow of Forward Motion, Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom (2019); An Intricate Weave, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, United Kingdom (2018); The Everywhere Studio, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL (2017); Women House, la Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France and National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. (2017); Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2017); No Place Like Home, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel (2017); Room, Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick, United Kingdom (2017); and Artists and Architecture, Variable Dimensions, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France (2015).
Heidi Bucher’s work is featured in numerous international public and private collections, including Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; KADIST Art Foundation, Paris, France and San Francisco, CA; Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland; Muzeum Susch, Zernez, Switzerland; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Musée Jenisch Vevey, Vevey, Switzerland; Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Tate, London, United Kingdom; Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom.
YAN SHIJIE - BIOGRAPHY
Yan Shijie is the founder, director and curator of the Red Brick Art Museum. Always adhering to the value of ‘academic-oriented,’ he is a pioneer in proposing and implementing the concept of ‘ecological museum experience’ in China. In 2021, he curated the project "Xu Bing : Art Beyond the Kármán Line", which explored the intersection of contemporary art and aerospace technology. He also curated the first solo exhibition in China of the American artist, "James Lee Byars: The Perfect Moment". In 2020 he curated the large international exhibition “2020＋”, attempts to open a multi-dimensional space for understanding the pandemic, public crises and social upheavals have blanketed the globe. In 2019 he curated the Sarah Lucas’ largest eponymous solo exhibition in Asia, ‘Sarah Lucas’. In 2018, he curated ‘The unspeakable openness of things’-the largest solo exhibition of Olafur Eliasson in China to date. In the largest Sino-German cultural exchange project in 2017, ‘Deutschland 8-Deutsche Kunst in China’, Yan Shijie as the deputy general curator together with the general curator Fan Di’an and Walter Smerling curated ‘Prologue-German Informel Art’. In 2016, he curated the exhibition ‘Identification Zone: Chinese and Danish Furniture Design’ which was the first design-centered dialogue between Chinese classical furniture and Danish furniture masterpieces. Other well-received exhibitions curated by Yan Shijie include ‘Izumi Kato’ (2018), ‘Andreas Mühe: Photography’ (2018), ‘Andres Serrano: An American Perspective’ (2017) and ‘Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant-Garde Art of the 80s and 90s’ (2016). The aforementioned exhibitions have constructed deep and multi-dimensional explorations and reflections on contemporary art from various perspectives.
RED BRICK ART MUSEUM
Hegezhuang, Cuigezhuang, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100103
Initial Dates: August 5 – October 8, 2023
