Myth of Childhood

This exhibition was curated by art historian Andréa Holzherr, Magnum Photos Paris and Barbara Zürcher, Director of Haus für Kunst Uri, in collaboration with Patricia Asbaek, CCA Andratx.

Although we have all passed through it, childhood is a time of which we, as adults, have only limited memories; a mysterious place, mystified and charged with reminiscence.

The theme of childhood evokes numerous questions – What does it feel like to be a child? How does a child discover the world? And ultimately, how does a child appropriate the world? The fact that the child’s perception of the world is inaccessible to the adult probably increases our fascination with childhood.

Childhood is not a precise concept. In western culture the word usually designates a phase of human development situated between infancy and puberty.

Although childhood is conditioned by cultural and social factors it is lived individually and remembered subjectively. This is one of the reasons why the term childhood encompasses multiple and sometimes contradictory attributes like innocence, purity and bliss, but also shame, helplessness and fear.

The theme of childhood as a mythical and utopian place is a motif often used by artists in exploring methods of expression based on self examination. The exhibition "Myth of Childhood" does not aim to analyze childhood from a historical or sociological point of view but instead strives to examine ways in which childhood is perceived and represented in contemporary art.

In this exhibition, through the use of mediums such as paint, installation, sculpture, video and photography, over 15 international artists explore aspects of the theme of childhood. Each of the works shown in the exhibition is representative of a critical and subjective point of view in relation to the theme.

Sergey Bratkov (Rus), Elina Brotherus & Hanna Brotherus & Lauri Astala (Fin), Maïder Fortuné (F), Cao Guimarães (Br), Sunil Gupta (Ind), Charlotte Gyllenhammar (S), Michael Kalmbach (D), Fabrice Langlade (F), Andrea Muheim (Ch), Peter Neuchs (Dk), Iris Sara Schiller (Il), The Royal Art Lodge (Ca), Yves Tremorin (F), Hans Witschi (Ch)

Curated by: Barbara Zürcher and Andréa Holzherr in collaboration with Patricia Asbaek

Hans Witschi Flashback, 1997, acrylic on cotton, 60,9 x 45,7cm each. Switzerland is strewn with a dense, invisible net of homes of all kinds. Until the 70´s physically and mentally challenged children were institutionalised. There was hardly any help and the appropriate infrastructure was missing in order to allow disabled children of indigent parents to grow up at their own home. Furthermore, in those times, many families considered such a child as a sign of sin or as an embarrassment. This is the reason why so many children in those times were locked away and had to grow up in homes or hospitals. In such an environment they were protected but yet exposed at the same time, looked after by the caring hands of nurses or nuns, at the same time used incessantly as objects of science in order to defeat illnesses. Flashback displays 54 children of an open institution, where Hans Witschi himself spent 16 years of his life. Old photos, mostly taken by the hospital staff or parents, triggered his need to paint the portraits of his former companions. Born in 1954 in Luzern, the self-taught artist Hans Witschi lives and works in New York since 1989. In 1989 he obtains the New York studio of the City of Zurich. Since 1981 he exhibits regularly at single or group exhibitions, in Switzerland and abroad. The documentary shot in 1989 Witschi geht (There goes Witschi) by Paolo Poloni is shown at the Locarno Film Festival in 1992. Since 2008 he is a Faculty Member of the renowned Art Students League of New York, where he teaches as associate professor.

Fabrice Langlade Eden, Souche 1, 2, 3 and Alba, 2008, installation The French sculptor works with wall reliefs as well as with detached sculptures. His wall compositions called Eden consist of a series of hand-sized, monochrome, flat figures, pinned on the wall by the artist. They are arranged according to a strictly geometrical plan whose principal is based on mirroring and repetition. His figures, which are dispersed across the wall, borrow their shapes from the world of children and toys. Fabulous mythical creatures, little dolls, stylised plants and trees, but also soldiers and combat helicopters cover the walls like the design of a wallpaper. Their skewered little bodies remind the beholder of an entomologist´ s collection of butterflies. Fabrice Langlade´s three-dimensional works consist of white plastic material, their congealed and achromatic silhouettes resemble over-sized toy figure. They are large little things or little large things. Offsetting shape, colour and measure, the artist creates new magical worlds. The reliefs as well as the three-dimensional figures illustrate a timeless original state, a primeval world. Like the beginning of a fairy tale “once upon a time…” they narrate about the creation of things, about pressure and fighting, about mythical and human experiences.

Born in 1964 in Rheims, France, Fabrice Langlade lives and works in Montreuil. Among others his works have been presented at the following single exhibitions: 2008 at the Gallery Steinek, Vienna (Newpatterns) and at La Cathédrale, Leshauts du Ru, at Anne Israëls´s in Montreuil (Eden); 2006 at the Gallery JGM, Paris (Ahgha); 2004 in the Societé de Lecture R. Peyer, Geneva (Oval); 2002 at Art of this Century, Paris (SSHH); 2000 in L Samaritaine, Paris (Garden) and at the Group Exhibition Settlement at the Musée d´art moderne, Saint Etienne. The sculptures of Fabrice Langlade are featured in important private and public collections.

Peter Neuchs Dreamtest, 2004/2009, acrylic on linen. With his work Dreamtest the Danish artist Peter Neuchs deals with the subject of dreams. As of today the cause and purpose of dreams has not been studied comprehensively and brain research considers dreams merely as physiological answer of neuronal procedures. As a permanent element of Freud´s psychoanalysis the dream refers to the human unconscious and consequently to his/her childhood. In order to establish a connection between reality and dream, the present and the past, Peter Neuchs uses old embroidered towels and little table cloths as image carrier of his work. Typical objects of his (our) childhood, spotless and neatly ironed, adorning the living rooms of our grandparents, parents and relatives, Neuchs uses them as canvas for drawings and scriptures which remind the beholder of an uneasy sleep, if not nightmares. Through the drastic contrast between the bourgeois doilies and the gruesome dream pictures, Neuchs shows the discrepancy in the adult between his idealised, nostalgic memories and traumatic experiences of his/her childhood. Born in 1958 in Århus, Denmark, Peter Neuchs studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen between 1985 and 1992. For many years he has been living and working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the last years Peter Neuchs works have been presented at important single exhibitions, among them in 2007 oeuvres sur papier at the Gallery Maria Lund; in 2005 at the Gallery Laura Marsiaj, Rio de Janeiro; in 2001 Cut-outs, Motel Acapulco, R.J. at the Gallery Danoise, Paris; 2000 Dream-tests at the Ediciones Benveniste, Madrid; 1999 Restless at the Gallery Specta, Copenhagen, as well as Foot-Notes at the Ediciones Benveniste, Madrid.

Yves Tremorin Poupig, 1995, Photographs “To own a camera and not have children is sad, but to have children and no camera is inexcusable. To have children and a camera is wonderful!” Dominique Nohain. In his series Poupig the French artist Yves Tremorin deals with the photographic image of newborns. As soon as a new arrival is born, its parents take photographs of the “historic moment” to send the portraits to relatives and friends. This way the joyful occasion can be shared and as all portraits they subliminally serve as identification of the person. Nothing of all this can be found in the work of Yves Tremorin. Instead of presenting his offspring in a “pleasant pose”, it seems as if the father gazes at the new human being with scepticism or with distance, he seems to study it like something “strange”. The newborn is not presented to the beholder as a proud descendant, but as a meaningless body with a slobbered chin or a smudgy bottom. It is this objective view of Yves Tremorin´s photographs which stand in a starkly contrast to the usual baby photos. Instead of “loveliness” the beholder is faced with the reality of life with a baby. What is shown as a miracle on classical baby portraits is revealed as rather peculiar with Tremorin´s pictures. Born in 1959 in Rennes, France, he studied mathematics, however was already absorbed by photography. Among others his works were presented at the following exhibitions: 2006 at Le Triangle, Rennes (Homographies), 2005 at the Gallery Gilles Peyroulet & Cie, Paris (Rose Digitale) and in the same year on the occasion of the Festival Images au Centre, Château de Châteaudun (Blason & Figures), 2004 at the Pavillon des arts, Pantin (La Légende du Pavillon), 2003 at the Gallery Gilles Peyroulet & Cie, Paris (Natures Mortes et autres Objets). 2001 at the Gallery de l´école des Arts, Brest (Guns – Manzanita St) and 2000 at the Frac Basse Normandy, Caen.

Elina Brotherus & Lauri Astala & Hanna Brotherus My Happiness is Round, 2007, video, 9 minutes The joint video work My Happiness is Round features four Finnish siblings, three boys and a little girl, are exploring the world. The main character of the film is the little sister, who expresses herself about the world and its mysteries. “What is love?”, “What means important?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Why are we here through this love thing?” These are just a few of her questions, but she talks about herself and her brothers, too, about her fears of monsters and she is adamant about her happiness being round. My Happiness is round, allows us a peek through the keyhole featuring the childhood, the life with siblings, growing up, but also the insecurities and the questions that occur in a child´ s existence. Project management: Hanna Brotherus, Elina Brotherus, Lauri Astala Camera: Lauri Astala Editing: Lauri Astala, Elina Brotherus Choreography: Hanna Brotherus Music and sound: Antti Ikonen Protagonists: Robert, Johannes, Amos and Elsa Brotherus Sponsored by: AVEK, Arts Council of Finland, Centre cultural français Helsinki Elina Brotherus was born in 1972 in Helsinki, Finland. After her study of chemistry she studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH) between 1997 and 2000. She lives and works, both, in Finland and France. In the course of the last years the Finnish artist had numerous single exhibitions, among others in 2008 The New Painting at the Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki; in 2007 The New Painting at the Oldenburger Kunstverein and in the Centre pour l´image contemporaine, Geneva; in 2006 Model Studies at the Musée des Beaux-arts, Caen, and The New Painting at the Musée Nicéphore Niepce, Chalon-sur-Saône. Many important museum collections feature her works. Lauri Astala was born in 1958 in Valkeakoski, Finland. He lives and works in Helsinki. As graduate engineer from the Technical University of Helsinki, the artist changed to the Helsinki Academy of Arts in 1985. After his graduation in 1990 he studied two more years at the Art Institute of Chicago, USA. Lauri Astala´s work was presented at important single exhibitions in 2008 at the Kumu Art Museum, Tallin; at the Gallery Heino in Helsinki as well as at the Institut Finlandais, Paris. Lauri Astala accepted many bids for works at public locations. Hanna Brotherus was born in 1968 in Helsinki, Finland. She studied dance and choreography at the Theatre Academy of Helsinki. She presented some of her most important choreographies in 2008 at the Helsinki City Theatre (Silmissäni mennyt), in 2007 at the Zodiak Center for New Dance (Lähiosoite) as well as at the Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth (Hannu ja Kerttu) in the same year. Furthermore she participated in several film and video projects such as My happiness is round in 2007 and in Stäng dörren, in 2004 in Brotherus, the girl and in 2003 in Recovering from love as well as in 2002 in Be always with us.

Cao Guimarāes From The Window of My Room, 2004, film, 35mm / colour, 5 minutes Through the window of his hotel room the Brazilian filmmaker observes two children who are fighting in the rain. After a while the playful banter turns into an angry fight. Born in 1965, Cao Guimarāes lives and works in Brazil. He studied philosophy at the University of Westminster in London and mastered in photography. Featuring documentaries and experimental films, his works continue to be shown at the most renowned international video and film festivals. He participates regularly in group exhibitions.

Michael Kalmbach Der grosse und der kleine Paul (big Paul and little Paul) 2003, water colour on paper, 49-part work cycle, framed. The world of fairy tales is the world of drawings by Michael Kalmbach. As we all know, fairy tales are both, beautiful and sad, they establish a link between the good and the evil, but they are also cruel. Often do we find moments of initiation and ordeal. There are existential questions which keep coming up during a child´ s and young person´ s life. Michael Kalmbach asks such questions, however with irony and devotedness seen through the eyes of the artist, who is determined to trace his own memory, as if he were one of these creatures himself. The artist is dealing with all our images. By listening to his inner voice, he is listening into our collective memory, into our collective biography. Michael Kalmbach, born in 1962 in Landau, Palatinate, lives and works in Frankfurt/Main and Berlin. Between 1983 and 1989 he studies at the Städelschule, Frankfurt/Main, in 1987 he is awarded a scholarship by the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate in the “Künstlerhaus Edenkoben” and in 1989/90 he receives a scholarship by the German National Merit Foundation to study in New York. In 1995 he is awarded the Prize of Art by the “Frankfurter Verein für Künstlerhilfe” and he receives the Exceptional Prize for Young Art, Saar Ferngas Promotion Award. In 1997 these awards are followed by a grant awarded by the Ministry for Science and Art of the Federal State of Hesse, 1999 he is awarded a travelling scholarship by the Cultural Foundation of Hesse, 2000 he receives the Karl-Ströher-Prize, followed by a grant of the “Kunstfond e.V. Bonn”. Many single and group exhibitions as well as publications in Germany and abroad.

Maïder Fortuné Playing Dead, 2003, photography Maïder Fortuné from France works with the media video, photography, film and installation. In her work she faces the beholder with myths and mythical creatures from the childhood. What happens in the psyche of a child, that plays dead? Playing Dead consists of a triptych which examines the incomprehensible reason of childish rituals. The images show two little girls who play “dead” on their parents bed. The camera tries to catch the play, however the photographs merely show, that something invisible is happening in front of our eyes, a mysterious encounter with death, which eludes the adult beholder. Puppet, 2001, video, 4 minutes Puppet is part of the series / Games. The protagonist of the series which features 5 episodes is a little girl. Through the permanent encounter with the same character emerges the idea of a double. The reprography of the dollish girl makes it impossible for the beholder to tell the real character from the double. In Puppet the little girl finds herself in a grotto. Between her finger tips she holds a balloon, whose round belly reflects the head of the girl. This scene, too, is focussing on the doubling of the character and puts it in the centre of the work. The face of the girl seems to be captured in the balloon, hovering gently in the breeze above her head.

Licorne, 2006, video, 6 minutes There is a unicorn standing motionless in an indefinable, dark room. Surrounded by blue light it has a majestic and mystical aura. All of a sudden it starts raining. The raindrops seem to be strokes of a brush which dye the unicorn´s white coat. Turning into a downpour the rain slowly reveals the masquerade of the unicorn and the mythical creature turns into a horse in a ridiculous disguise. The exposure of the mythical creature reminisces the frustration, we all experienced during our childhood, when the “miracle” turned into a stupid trick, when the mercantile background or the primitive structure was revealed, when we could all but look at the ashes of our dreams and wishes. Just like that the unicorn disappears slowly in front of our eyes into the black room of our buried illusions. Curtain !, 2007, video, 18 minutes First of all the beholder looks at a grey nothingness. From this nothingness black silhouettes are slowly rising. The silhouettes emerge, cross the nothingness and disappear in the background, as if swallowed by fog. All of a sudden one rediscovers the heroes of one´ s childhood. Was this Pinocchio, and that Mickey Mouse? And there comes Snow White…..spellbound we stare at the nothingness, waiting. The colours of the friends of our childhood are faded, the details of their stylised bodies are captured in the black of their silhouettes, but for all that, you still recognize them without a problem. Through the recognition of these characters, despite their rudimentary appearance, it is shown, how much our memory is moulded by these memories and with how much power their shadowy appearances open the floodgates of amnesia.

Maïder Fortuné was born in 1973 in France. She lives and works in Paris. At first the artist studied at the Physical Theatre of Jacques Lecoq in Paris before she continued her studies from 2000-2002 at the MFA, Studio National des Art Contemporains Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing. The young artist had important single exhibitions at the Gallery Martine Aboucaya, Paris in 2008; at the Frac Haute Normandie, Rouen and at the Centre chorégraphique de Havre in 2007, at Le Triange, Rennes as well as at the Mercer Union, Toronto and in the L´H Valenciennes in 2006; at the Foundation Miró, Espai 13, Barcelona as well as at the Gallery la Box, Bourges in 2005. Her films are regularly shown at film festivals and at art museums

Andrea Muheim Schlafende (Sleeping persons), 1998-2009, oil on canvas “Dürft ich in deine Träume schauen, so wär mir alles, alles klar!” F. Hebbel. For the artist, Andrea Muheim, painting is mainly a medium of intimacy. With this medium she explores the quarters that surround her; she portrays her social net, her loved ones and the rooms, where they live, sleep and work. For the artist painting is a form of communication and dialogue – accompanied by intimate gestures and gentle strokes painted on the canvas, expressed by figures that are touching each other, but also by curtains in front of a bed. For about 10 years sleeping persons have been a subject of hers. Exactly as long as her son is in this world. He was her first model. Then she started to portray acquaintances and friends, who fell asleep in her house. In the first years she just sketched the persons and then transferred it on canvas. Today she is mainly working with photographs which provide her with a greater distance to the picture and to the model at the same time. This is how her pictures developed. In her later works the beholder is rather the observer than in former times. On closer inspection the beholder is drawn into the maelstrom of the portrayed person and is tempted to peek in the dreams of the sleeping person. For the artist painting is mainly a medium to take inventory, a kind of diary. Andrea Muheim was born in 1968. She lives and works in Zurich. After the prep course at the School for Arts and Crafts in Zurich she took professional art courses in Bern. Since 1991 she had numerous single and group exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad. In 1997 she received the career award (Werkjahr) of the Art and Cultural Foundation Heinrich Danioth, 1995 she received the art-award from the town of Zollikon.

Sergey Bratkov Kids1. 2000, photography Most of Sergey Bratkov´s photographic works were created during the cataclysmic years of irritation and loss of a world order, firmly established under the communist regime of the former Soviet Union, but at the same time of promise of a freer, more individual and better future. In his series Kids1, Bratkov adopts, to a certain extent, the view of the parents who had their girls photographed with the intention to send their pictures to a model agency. His approach is rather not driven by a sexually exploiting motive. The cryptic gaze of the girls is a rather childish reflection of stereotype projections of their parents swamped by a medium, they do not really understand, parents who accompany their children to photo shootings and who had them even made up for this purpose. Sergey Bratkov was born in 1960 in Ukraine. Since 2000 he has been living in Moscow. Together with Boris Mikhailov he established the Fast Reaction Group between 1994-1997. In 2002 he participated in the 25th Sāo Paulo Biennial, Sāo Paulo. Afterwards he exhibited his work in the Ukrainian Pavilion of the 52nd. Biennial of Venice. Single exhibitions a.o. in the Center porary Art, Moscow, 2006; BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 2007; Photo Museum Winterthur, 2008. Sergey Bratkov´s work is represented in numerous private and public collections such as the Museum van Hedendaagse Art Antwerp, Belgium.

Iris Sara Schiller Eaux d´en haut, eau d´en bas, 2008, video 2´43 minutes For her work the artist Iris Sara Schiller from Israel applies different media (drawing, video, photography, sculpture etc.) which she combines to complex installations. Weaving gestures and poses, wordplays and visions, characters, furniture as well as cultural references, she conveys the complexity of family relationships, either directly or in a symbolic manner. With her displays of relationships between man-woman, mother-daughter, brother-sister, mother-child or between twins, Iris Schiller tries to give the symbiotic situation of love a coherent shape. At the same time her works, in which Iris Schiller establishes a connection between her own experiences, feelings and recollections with those of her close relatives, refer to their intervention, inheritance and alliance within the family circle. Her video work Eaux d´en haut, eaux d´en bas consists of charcoal drawings and a Hebrew poem which the artist recites in her mother tongue. The poem or story begins like a fairy tale with the usual “Once upon a time” and deals with little girls, witches and of being caged and powerless. Like in the fairy tale the children live through critical or even cruel moments, however, without real loss or damage. The images that Iris Sara Schiller revives in her work, awaken memories, which thus come back to the surface of consciousness. Born in 1955 in Haifa, Israel, Iris Sara Schiller studied at the Art Academy Bezalel in Jerusalem. Since 1984 she has been living and working in Paris. Amongst others she presented her works in 2008 at the Musée d´art et d´histoire du Judaïsme in Paris (Eaux d´en haut, eaux d´en bas); 2003 at the Musée Picasso d´Antibes (Une fille est une fille est une fille d´une fille); 2001 at the Synagogue de Delme, Centre d´art contemporain (Rites de deuil). In 2005 Iris Sara Schiller was awarded the Grand Prize on the occasion of the 50. International Festival of Short Films in Oberhausen for her video work La tresse de ma mère.

Sunil Gupta Imagening Childhood, 2005/2006, photographs Sunil Gupta, artist, curator, writer and activist, critically analyses existing stereotypes and challenges fundamental concepts by analysing subjects like race, gender and sexuality and their significance related with them such as belonging, identity and home country. Born in India, Sunil Gupta emigrated to Canada at the age of 15 together with his family. HIV-positive, Gupta has been dealing for many years with homosexuality and Aids in his works. His series Imagening Childhood documents the life of Aids infected children in the “NAZ Carehome for Women and Children” in Delhi. Gupta´ s photographs show the reality of those who live with Aids. Compared to certain photojournalistic practices, which are eager to emphasize the exotic character of the third world and the ailments of the victims, Gupta´ s pictures seem unspectacular. Sympathetic but yet unsentimental the photographer documents the children and their environment, without depicting them as victims or revealing their identity. Moulded by Gupta´s own recollections of his childhood and his personal experiences with Aids, in his work Imagening Childhood, documentation mingles with autobiography, childhood, life and death. Sunil Gupta was born in 1953 in New Delhi, India. Amongst others he studied in London at the Royal College of Art, where he graduated with a Master. In 1988 he founded Autograph: The Association of Black Photographers and in 1992 OVA: The Organization of Visual Arts. In 1995 Gupta was infected with the HIV-virus. Since 2005 he has been living in London and New Delhi. Sunil Gupta presents his photographs regularly at important international single and group exhibitions, amongst them in 2008 at the Sepia Gallery, New York, in 2007 at the Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2006 at the CUNY, Staten Island, New York (Imagening Childhood: Living with HIV in Delhi), in 2005 at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario, in 2004 at the Prowler Project Space, London (The Body Positive) as well as at the California Museum of Photography, Riverside, California. For his work the artist was awarded with numerous prizes and scholarships.

Charlotte Gylenhammar The Spectators, 2003, Installation In her installation The Spectators Charlotte Gylenhammar uses the projection of an excerpt from the archives of the Swedisch news channel about a kidnapping drama, which she combines with sculptures of small children. The short trailer of the installation refers to the release of the 17 year old Paul Getty who had spent five months in captivity of his kidnappers and who was found in the area of Salerno/Italy on December 15th. 1973. The document shows Paul Getty leaving a police station in Rome. In The Spectators Charlotte Gylenhammar focuses on the suspense between reality and perception, which she visualizes through the film documentation and the children sitting in front of it. To deprive someone of his freedom is a violent act, which often happens on the edge between a personal and a political sphere. The politicisation of the act is carried out with the help of the coverage in the mass media, one of the most effective weapons of our times. Eventually Charlotte Gylenhammar likes to emphasize the vulnerability and the power which pictures have over one´s own thoughts. Many of the installations of the Swedish artist are dealing with moving images and their perception. In The Spectators the latter is carried out on different levels, first of all a historic one, second, a childish one, indicated by the characters of the artist, and third the perception of the beholder (Spectator), who sees the scene as a whole, from a distance, or in a different way as an active participant whilst striding through the room. In the early 80´s CHARLOTTE GYLENHAMMAR first studied at the Göteborg Art College and later at the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm as well as at the Royal College of Art in London. The artist had important single exhibitions in 2008 at the SAK Gallery, Stockholm (B-Head); in 2007 at Swarowski´s Cristal Worlds, Wattens, in 2006 in the Dep,art,ment Stockholm (Hang); 2005 at the Boras Art Museum and at the Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg (Private Idiot); 2004 in the Kulturhuset, Stockholm (Private Idiot) and in 2003 at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (The Spectators). Charlotte Gylenhammar accepted numerous commissioned sculptures at public locations, amongst them the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial by order of the city of Göteborg in 2007, or Wonder for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm in 2006.

THE ROYAL ART LODGE Children, 2008 The Royal Art Lodge is a Canadian association of artists whose members are, amongst others, Marcel Dzama, Neil Farber and Michael Dumontier. It is the philosophy of the group, to abstain from their own names as authors in favour of their label THE ROYAL ART LODGE, when dealing with a collective venture, whereby all members pursue their own career as artists at the same time. Through the function of the copyright THE ROYAL ART LODGE questions the role of the artist as well as the hierarchy between “high-culture” and “low-culture”. During their joint work sessions the participating artists paint on tiny canvasses, whose surface measure just a few centimetres, with pictures that are influenced by comics and low-culture. Witty, weird and ironic the thumbnails tell stories about the childhood, which with their nonsense combination of words and pictures seem to send a tragicomical message where fears of the childhood and adult fantasies are mingled in a humorous way. Marcel Dzama was born in 1974 in Winnipeg, Canada. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. During the last few years he had important single exhibitions in the following galleries: 2008 Even the Ghost of the Past, David Zwirner, New York as well as Marcel Dzama / Edition 46, Pinakothek der Moderne (Art Gallery) Munich. 2007 Marcel Dzama, Oficina para Proyectos de Arte, Guadalajara, Mexico and Celluloid Ceremony, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm. 2006 Marcel Dzama, Sies + Höke, Dusseldorf, Germany as well as Tree With Roots, ikon Gallery, Birmingham and Marcel Dzama, The Richard L. Nelson Gallery & Fine Arts Collection, University of California. Neil Farber lives and works in Winnipeg, Canada. Decorated with several prizes the artist exhibits his work in international museums and galleries, such as 2006 in the Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, at the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY and at Mogadishni´s, Copenhagen. 2005 Looking at Words: The Formal Use of Text in Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York; Brain, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica as well as Two D, Green On Red, Dublin and 2004 Rendez-Vous im Musee Art Conemporain Lyon, Lyon. Michael Dumontier, born in 1974, graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University o Manitoba, Winnipeg. So far the Canadian artist had the following exhibitions: 2007 In The Mourning, Galeria Espacio Minimo, Madrid; Where is Here?, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg. 2006 Matches, Perugi Artecontemporanea, Padua and New Work, OH+T Gallery, Boston. 2005 Pensieri Dei Serpenti, Perugi Artecontemporanea, Padua and Serpentine Musings, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublín. 2004 Michael Dumontier, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York.

Myth of Childhood
Ort: CCA Kunsthalle
Kuratoren: Barbara Zürcher, Andrea Holzherr, Patricia Asbaek

Künstler: Sergej Bratkow, Elina Brotherus & Hanna Brotherus & Lauri Astala, Maider Fortune, Cao Guimaraes, Sunil Gupta, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Michael Kalmbach, Fabrice Langlade, Andrea Muheim, Peter Neuchs, Iris Sara Schiller, The Royal Art Lodge , Yves Tremorin, Hans Witschi