Zaha Hadid @ Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich - Abstracting the Landscape

Zaha Hadid: Abstracting the Landscape 

Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich 

Through 31 July, 2021 

Zaha Hadid passed away in Miami on March 31, 2016 at the age of 65. On the 5th Anniversary of her death, Galerie Gmurzynska presents an immersive homage to the visionary Architect. 

The shared interests between the gallery and Zaha Hadid for the Russian avant-garde fortuitously crossed paths in 1992 at the monumental exhibition "The Great Utopia," at the Guggenheim Museum for which Zaha Hadid designed the rotunda – the first architect tasked with reimagining the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural icon. From early in her career, her peerless aesthetic was deeply inspired by Kazimir Malevich and the Suprematists, on whom she prepared her graduation thesis in 1976. 

The gallery’s active collaboration with Zaha Hadid from 2010 until her death began with the idea to again combine her knowledge of the Russian avant-garde with her architectural practice, which had advanced deeper since the Guggenheim exhibition. Thus, in 2010, the exhibition "Zaha Hadid and Suprematism" was held at Galerie Gmurzynska’s headquarters on Paradeplatz in Zurich. The exhibition and book, published together with Hatje Cantz, became a global event. This first collaboration with Zaha was followed by many other exhibition projects, including at Art Basel. On the occasion of the important Malevich retrospective held in 2014 at Tate London the star architect was asked to take part in a long documentary about Malevich with the BBC. Part of this documentary included an interview with Galerie Gmurzynska CEO Mathias Rastorfer and Zaha Hadid about Malevich and the nature of architecture and art. 

The final project completely planned by Zaha Hadid was again to show the dramatic development of her architecture in the context of another foundational modern master: Kurt Schwitters. The exhibition architecture was planned entirely by Hadid, and the selection of works by Schwitters was as well rigorously curated by her. Hadid unfortunately died before the opening of the show and left behind an architectural monument remaining unchanged in the Galerie Gmurzynska on Paradeplatz, open to the public. 

The latest exhibition at Galerie Gmurzynska titled "Abstracting The Landscape" was conceived and created with the same team with whom the gallery planned and executed all Zaha Hadid exhibitions since 2010. It has been a fruitful and euphoric collaboration for all involved, for which Galerie Gmurzynska expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the entire Zaha Hadid design and archive team. In this spirit of long-term collaboration and the highest respect for her perpetual vision, historical projects with models and drawings, as well as sculptural objects realized since her passing have been individually selected to be integrated into a custom floor design displaying Hadid’s best traits. The exhibition also features site-specific objects, as well as never-before exhibited designs. 

GALERIE GMURZYNSKA 

Paradeplatz 2, Zurich 

www.gmurzynska.com

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Contemporary Jewelry & Design, High, Atlanta, 2013-2014

Bangles to Benches: Contemporary Jewelry and Design - Campana Brothers, Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid, Marcel Wanders and Other Renowned Designers at High Museum of Art, Atlanta 
October 8, 2013 - June 8, 2014

The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia (USA) will broaden visitors’ ideas of jewelry as wearable sculpture with Bangles to Benches: Contemporary Jewelry and Design, on view October 8, 2013 through June 8, 2014.

Ranging from mass-produced to one-of-a-kind works and from hand-crafted to digitally fabricated pieces, this exhibition focuses on the scale, range and creative dexterity found in many contemporary designers’ repertoires today. Innovative contemporary jewelry will be paired with other design objects—from chairs to climbing walls—created by the same designers.

This exhibition will celebrate the accomplishments of key designers currently in the High’s permanent collection, including Ron Arad, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Héctor Esrawe, Johanna Grawunder, Zaha Hadid, Joris Laarman, Marc Newson, Ettore Sottsass, Jr. and Marcel Wanders. The show will also highlight many of the High’s recent acquisitions by these designers and will demonstrate the range of contemporary design.

Examples of notable pairings in the exhibition include the modular "Bone Structures" necklace (composed of 18 leather pieces attachable by magnets) by Fernando and Humberto Campana alongside their vibrant 2010 "Sushi" sofa and the gold-plated clown "Nose" necklace by Marcel Wanders, displayed with his 2006 prototype "Crochet" chair made of hand-crocheted fiber and epoxy resin.

“Over the last seven years, we have grown our collection of works by these designers to reinforce and explore ideas of production, material, intent and form,” said Sarah Schleuning, curator of decorative arts and design at the High. “By showcasing wearable designs by these artists alongside their works in other mediums, we’ll celebrate the breadth of the influence of these artists and also show how their works have come to shape the High’s permanent collection.”

Other notable works in the exhibition include: Ron Arad’s "Blo-Void I" rocker and "Hot Ingo" earrings; Zaha Hadid’s "Glace" series with Atelier Swarovski and "Tea and Coffee Towers"; Joris Laarman’s "Credit" brooch and "Ivy" climbing wall; and Marc Newson’s "Orgone 1" bracelet and "Embryo chair".

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART, ATLANTA, GA
Museum's website: www.high.org

Architecture and Beauty. Conversations with Architects about a troubled relationship

Architecture and Beauty. By Yael Reisner with Fleur Watson
Conversations with architects about a troubled relationship
Published by Wiley, April 2010


ISBN: 9780470997840 / Hardback / £50.00, EUR 57.50

© 2010 Wiley. Courtesy of the publisher

Architecture and Beauty provides a rare insight into the minds of 20 of today's most progressive and high profile architects, each from a radically different position and each displaying a distinctive aesthetic.

Based on a series of interviews, the book raises poignant issues regarding the notion of 'beauty' within contemporary cultural theory.

As a society we are continually re-evaluating and forecasting what is 'beautiful' within our contemporary environments and what currency beauty gives to our daily lives. However, throughout the 20th century and to the present day, many architects continue to handle words like 'beauty', 'style', 'form', 'visual language' or 'artistic authorship' with a great discomfort or even total denial. Nevertheless, good architecture, or, brilliant buildings are mostly still judged by their capacity to produce an aesthetic experience. So why are architects so suspicious of the notion of 'beauty' or aesthetic evaluation?

Not so much a behind the scenes, but more a "behind the mind", for architects, featuring interviews with Will Alsop, Peter Cook, Odile Decq, Hernan Diaz Alonso, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Zvi Hecker, Mark Goulthorpe, Kolatan/MacDonald Studio, Greg Lynn, Tom Mayne, Juhani Pallasmaa, Gaetano Pesce, Eric Owen Moss, Wolf Prix and Lebbeus Woods.

The author Yael Reisner is a practicing architect. She gained her Diploma from the prestigious post-graduate program at the Architectural Association, London. She runs her own office and also teaches Architectural Design, most recently at the   Bartlett-UCL, 1997-2005. She has recently completed a PhD by project at RMIT (Melbourne, Australia) that focuses on the theme of the emotional experience and beauty in contemporary architecture.

Fleur Watson is a freelance, editor and curator, based in Melbourne, Australia. She was the Editor for many years of Monument magazine, Australia’s leading architecture and design publication (2001-2008)