Satire Master/ Maurizio Cattelan at Fondation Beyeler
The Fondation Beyeler is the museum that was created in 1997 to house the art collection belonging to the late, great, Ernst Beyeler. A foremost dealer of modern art before it became a market cornerstone, Ernst Beyeler had the business acumen and connections to build a stockpile of Picasso’s (whom he had close ties with), Kandinsky’s, Cézanne’s, Matisse’s, and other modern masters. Besides this impressive permanent collection, the Fondation also hosts special exhibitions and will soon be showing works by Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan.
Cattelan, who started his practice as a furniture builder and industrial designer, is heralded for his highly emotive, often satirical sculptures – ones which startled the global art world when they first came into view in the 1990s. A recent example of the thought-provoking yet controversial nature of these works is titled “HIM,” a sculpture of a kneeling, praying Adolf Hitler which was installed in the Warsaw Ghetto in 2012. Though his work is considered shocking by some, overall he’s extolled for his reflections on subjects that span the gamut of psychological and societal formations – from happiness and depression to religion and politics.
The Fondation Beyeler, which is an institutional partner of Design Miami/, is itself an esteemed piece of design. Created by the influential architect Renzo Piano, the building is remarkable for its serene, glazed façade and glass roof – design elements which are environmentally integrated. The perspective provided onto the corn fields and vines of the Tüllinger Hills is also a sight to behold.
The Maurizio Cattelan exhibition, on view at the Fondation Beyeler from June 8 to October 6, 2013, is the first show of Cattelan’s in Switzerland since 1999. The exhibition is also highly anticipated since it comes after Cattelan announced his retirement from the art world following a retrospective of his work at the Guggenheim in 2011. Renowned for highly personal works that comment on broad and profound issues while retaining a humorous edge, Maurizio Cattelan is in good company amongst the masters living at the Fondation Beyeler.
Maurizio Cattelan
Fondation Beyeler
June 8 – October 6, 2013
Riehen, Switzerland
