PIA FRIES | KUNSTHALLE ZÜRICH

At Kunsthalle Zürich we have, over the years, hosted several exhibitions for institutions and organisations with a similar ethos to ours. It has been, and remains, important to offer them a platform for their engagement with contemporary art and thus bring it to a broader audience. In 1999 it was the Federal Competition for Fine Art, in 2003 the Stiftung Binz39 and in 2021 the F+F school of art and design on their 50-year anniversary. It is in keeping with this exhibition tradition, and with joy, that we celebrate 75 years of Edition VFO this September.

Edition VFO (Verein für Originalgraphik), our neighbours in Löwenbräukunst, play a vital role in promoting contemporary art in print in all its forms. Edition VFO ensures that collecting art remains a pursuit for all and that ever more artists are introduced to the art of printing. The cultural landscape of Zürich, and of Switzerland, would be much poorer without this non-profit organisation whose history goes back further than ours!

Edition VFO, the largest fine art print publisher in Switzerland, turns 75 this year. The anniversary marks a new chapter in the history of the Zürich art institution, which moved into Löwenbräukunst at the end of 2022. Not only does the new location at Löwenbräukunst give contemporary printmaking greater visibility, it also enables synergies with neighbouring institutions. The show lasts five days, from 20–24 September, and with this short duration has the character of a happening.

The works exhibited are exclusively monotypes, i.e. works produced using a printing process, but that are only printed once. In the classic monotype, the motif is painted or drawn on a smooth plate and, while the colour is still wet, transferred to an image support applying pressure – the process a mixture of painting, drawing and printmaking. Edition VFO has invited several artists to produce a new monotype for this exhibition. Some artists will be working with this technique for the first time for the show, while others have specialised in this field.

In selecting the participants, Edition VFO is focussing on artists that have a painterly practice or for whom working with prints and monotypes is central. The exhibition presents a new approach to the diversity of the medium of print to a broad audience, as well as opening a dialogue between printing, painting and drawing.

Curated by David Khalat, Director Edition VFO, and Valérie Hashimoto, research associate Edition VFO.

With works by Henni Alftan, John M Armleder, Marc Bauer, Patricia Bucher, Ralph Bürgin, Sol Calero, Isabelle Cornaro, Andriu Deplazes, Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg, Cédric Eisenring, Klodin Erb, Gritli Faulhaber, Pia Fries, Franziska Furter, Frédéric Gabioud, Louisa Gagliardi, Luisanna Gonzalez Quattrini, Michael Günzburger, Dieter Hall, Zuni Halpern, Andrea Heller, Federico Herrero, Charlotte Herzig, Sanya Kantarovsky, Melike Kara, Emil Michael Klein, donna Kukama, Izidora I LETHE, Zilla Leutenegger, Renée Levi, Lorenza Longhi, Stefan Marx, Olivier Mosset, Yoan Mudry, Maria Pomiansky, Adrian Schiess, Albrecht Schnider, Kristina Schuldt, Elza Sile, Dominik Stauch, Rebekka Steiger, Milva Stutz, Barthélémy Toguo, Gaia Vincensini, Dan Walsh, Markus Weggenmann and Uwe Wittwer.