Swiss artist Luzia Hürzeler (*1976) has spent the past twenty years exploring the representation of animals and the cultural ideas that humans associate with them. Through photography, video and installation, Hürzeler critically examines how animals are staged in natural history museums, zoological gardens and art, and the meanings attributed to them in these contexts. The exhibition invites visitors to investigate the construction of "images of nature" and to explore alternative perspectives. At the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, founded in 1902 as the "Museum of Art and Science", wolves, birds and even gorillas once again take centre stage.
Occupying the museum's entire ground floor, the exhibition interweaves works from the museum's own collection with artistic positions from Switzerland and abroad that illuminate relationships between humans, animals and nature from a variety of perspectives. Curated in close collaboration with Hürzeler, the exhibition offers a rich and multifaceted exploration of a highly topical subject. Participating artists include Sammy Baloji, Richard Barnes, Gabriela Bettini, Balthasar Burkhard, Marie José Burki, Max Doerfliger, Urs Eggenschwyler, Candida Höfer, Alain Huck, Jürg Kreienbühl, Rémy Markowitsch, Meret Oppenheim, Hannes Rickli, Ernst Georg Rüegg and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
The exhibition is curated by Katrin Steffen and Tuula Rasmussen.
