Welcome speech at 2.30pm and followed by aperitifs.
Closing event on Saturday, August 18, 2018, 4pm
Tour of the exhibition with Urs Lüthi and other guests.
The exhibition Urs Lüthi—Facets of a Self-Portrait presents an overview of the printed matter that has accompanied Lüthi’s oeuvre since 1966. In the oeuvre of the Swiss artists, ephemera are of great importance, since Lüthi, when possible, always designs them himself in close cooperation with other designers, and also incorporates the existing graphic identity of the particular event venue in them. The exhibition in the Sitterwerk on the one hand shows the subtleties of Lüthi’s own design and his understanding of how to deal with traditions and trends. On the other, it also illustrates the development of design for cultural institutions, within whose context Lüthi’s works are presented.
With the title Facets of a Self-Portrait, the exhibition also makes reference to a heading that Urs Lüthi used several times in the 1980s and makes the biographical aspect in his work clear. Lüthi’s personality cannot be overlooked in his work. He makes his biography the material in a straightforward way, stands as a life-size silicon figure in the exhibition space, or shows us his life in photos, at times up close and personally, then again fictitiously and staged. When one looks through the invitations since 1966, Urs Lüthi then also looks back at us directly again and again, and the collection of ephemera consequently becomes a faceted self-portrait—a portrait that wonderfully shows how the character of the artist, the works in the exhibition space, and all the aspects of a biography can come together in one oeuvre.
A representative selection of the ephemera collected was published by Edizioni Periferia with the title «Urs Lüthi. Printed Matter» in 2017 and accompanies the exhibition Urs Lüthi. Heimspiel at the Museum im Bellpark, Kriens.
The exhibition in the Sitterwerk is linked to this publication and will be assembled on site by Urs Lüthi. The ephemera presented come from the collections of Urs Lüthi and Gianni Paravicini (Edizioni Periferia, Lucerne) and the books from the holdings of the Sitterwerk Art Library.
The exhibition in the Sitterwerk is a cooperation with Edizioni Periferia, Lucerne, and the Museum im Bellpark, Kriens, and is linked to this publication.
Not to miss: The Kunstmuseum St.Gallen is currently presenting a room with works by Urs Lüthi as part of the exhibition of the collection.