Neo-avant-garde Swiss artist showcased at MCAD Manila

‘Das Audienzzimmer des Doktor Binswanger (Sanatorium Bellevue, Kreuzlingen)’ (1988. gauze, fish glue, and latex 206.69 by 206.69 by 141.73 inches). Photograph courtesy of cjy art studio

The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila presents Heidi Bucher: and pull yesterday into today, a selection from the oeuvre of the renowned, groundbreaking, international, neo-avant-garde Swiss artist.

It takes its title from her statement: “We cover the rooms and listen. We look at the surface and coat it. We cover and reveal. What has been lived, what has passed, gets caught in the cloth and remains hanging. We slowly loosen the layers of rubber, the skin, and pull yesterday into today.”

After successful stints at the Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Korea, and the Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing, China, the exhibition comes to the Philippines as the third and last leg of Bucher’s Asian sojourn.

Bucher (1926—1993) studied fashion and textiles at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts under Johannes Itten, a key member of the Bauhaus. Her practice developed to encompass drawings and sculptures, installations, architecture, and collaborative performances. The breadth resists categorization of artistic disciplines. Bucher encouraged the capacity of art to speak across disciplines and challenge its preconceived ideas. She tested materials — textiles for architecture, architecture in the air, collages on silk, and sculptures as performances — in pursuit of bringing nature into her art. Trained as a dressmaker, she was fascinated by the interplay between art and fashion. This was highlighted in her genderless body sculptures Bodyshells and Bodywrappings, which emerged in California in the early 1970s.

'Untitled’ (1955, oil on canvas, 8.27 by 12.01 inches).Photograph courtesy of MCAD

‘Heute fliesst das Wasser aus dem Krug (The water flows out of the pitcher today)’ (1986. latex, textile, wood, glue, and mother of pearl pigment 39.37 by 46.06 by 48.43 inches).Photograph courtesy of cjy art studio

These wearable body sculptures were reproduced for the exhibition by MCAD together with the young innovators from the Production Design Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and in collaboration with the Estate of Heidi Bucher. These also spotlight a series of special performances by the budding talents from the Benilde Dance Program.

Heidi Bucher: and pull yesterday into today is part of the Benilde Open Design + Art, which thematically explores the curious mindset in celebration of the college’s 35th anniversary. It runs from 23 May to 18 August.