Heart to Hand

Mar 07 - Apr 15 2012

Acclaimed for the collaborative series Evas Arche und der Feminist, Pati Hertling’s curatorial efforts focus on engaging individuals and fostering community. For this exhibition, Swiss Institute has offered the curator carte blanche in the main gallery. The exhibition will include a selection of works by contributing artists Zoe Leonard, Klara Liden, Adam Pendleton and Oscar Tuazon/Elias Hansen. Conceived of in the wake of the #occupywallstreet movement and the Republican primaries, Hertling’s exhibition addresses the relationship between aesthetics and social conscience. At first sight, the selected artworks are formally abstract, yet upon further meditation, their conceptual disobedience is revealed. The works in this exhibition suggest and provoke political themes yet leave the response and action to the public. Taken as a whole, the exhibition questions the role of art in times of heightened political consciousness. Problematizing the contingencies of a social contract, it points to an intuitive overarching process. Albeit visceral and rare, Heart to Hand emphasizes the exchange between artist, artwork, and audience, namely the moment at which a piece of heart is offered into the hands of the public.

Curated by Pati Hertling

Image: Heart to Hand, installation view, 2012

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Press

• Heart to Hand | The New York Times | Heart to Hand | The New York Times
• Jimmie Durham, Nicolas Party, Heart to Hand | Tages Anzeiger | Schweizer Kunst nur, wenn sie gut ist
• Heart to Hand | Contemporary Art Daily