5th Swiss Sculpture Exhibition Biel

Presentation

Introduction

Justus Imfeld

For the fifth time the quadriennial overview of Swiss Sculpture has come into being; it has been sixteen years that we have been able to watch an artistic genre grow continually,changing, burying the old and creating the new as it tirelessly breathes mysterious life into lifeless matter, placing it under unexpected tension and into surprising relationships.

We have long known that art knows no national boundaries; that our art in the heart of the old cultural domain is in steady communication with the outside world; that it is affected by the vast currents of world events; and that in its turn it has a productive impact on the world around it; it is with marvelling eyes that we have been watching this adventure of an evolving world that finds ever new pathways, and always intervenes exactly where one would have least suspected.

The term of "statuary" has long been obsolete – no statues are being hewn any longer, for the techniques of this art have also adapted to our times: artists solder, weld, rivet and glue; they screw, saw, drill and jackhammer; they oxidise and increasingly they spray and paint, working on stone, metal, wood, glass and all sorts of mysterious synthetic materials; there is no material, no form, no surface and no colour or paint too outlandish to be used for a work of art.

The harder the times and the more menacing the global situation, the more alive and fertile art has seemed to become and one does not err if one relates the two: the more thoroughly mankind plans its own destruction, the more intensely the artists work on creating a new and better world under their own steam.

100 artists with 200 works amassing a total weight of one 140 tonnes – Marcel Joray, the tireless and inventive founder and artistic director of this Exhibition has again brought them to Biel from all over Switzerland and they are all connected by two characteristics: they have been created by Swiss artists, or at least in Switzerland, and they were created within the past four years. Among the artists we will find old friends to whom "Biel" matters; and then there are again the young ones, unknown artists on whom Marcel Joray lavishes his attention, for this is the first time that many of them have the opportunity of presenting themselves to the public, and of competing with their established peers.
Not all that is presented here may be "pleasant"; the world which is being created anew is not so; not every trail blazed here will lead to a destination; all the more thrilling, then, the artistic adventure of engaging in the search, to which we invite each visitor.

Again, the federal government, the canton of Bern, and especially the city of Biel have been generous in their support to make this happen. To them, and to all the many helpers who contributed towards this event, our thanks.
Justus Imfeid
© Translation from German, July 2008: Margret Powell-Joss




  • Forme intérieure, Emile Angéloz, expo 1970
    Forme intérieure
  • Pokoj, Jaquier Pierre, expo 1970
    Pokoj
  • Rennende (Vorstudie), Fischer Franz, expo 1970
    Rennende (Vorstudie)
  • Danse, Ramseyer André, expo 1970
    Danse
  • Forum I, Weber Denis, expo 1970
    Forum I
  • Messing, Fontana Annemie, expo 1970
    Messing
  • X 0, Wenger Edwin, expo 1970
    X 0
  • Der Ameisenkönig, Studer Harold, expo 1970
    Der Ameisenkönig
  • Santo Grappa, Spoerri Daniel, expo 1970
    Santo Grappa
  • CAT 70, Travaglini Peter, expo 1970
    CAT 70
  • Wer hat Angst vor dem bösen Wolf, von Wattenwyl Peter, expo 1970
    Wer hat Angst vor dem bösen Wolf
  • Impossibilità di volare 1-3, Gilardi Bernocco R., expo 1970
    Impossibilità di volare 1-3
  • Bügelform auf Dreieck (528 M), Gutmann Willi, expo 1970
    Bügelform auf Dreieck (528 M)
  • Grosses Holzpaket, Iseli Rolf, expo 1970
    Grosses Holzpaket
  • Atlas, Luginbühl Bernhard, expo 1970
    Atlas
  • Richtungsweisendes, Burgdorfer Ernst, expo 1970
    Richtungsweisendes
  • Scultura 1970, Paolucci Flavio, expo 1970
    Scultura 1970
  • Mobile I, Linck Walter, expo 1970
    Mobile I
  • Figur IV, Kunz Peter, expo 1970
    Figur IV
  • Para-Vent, Egloff Anton, expo 1970
    Para-Vent
  • Symptom C (Environnement), Berger Ueli, expo 1970
    Symptom C (Environnement)
  • Komposition, Mattioli Silvio, expo 1970
    Komposition
  • Souvenir für Generäle I, Wino Kurt, expo 1970
    Souvenir für Generäle I
  • Element A (15 Stück), Grunder Mariann, expo 1970
    Element A (15 Stück)
  • Espace à structure variable, Camesi Gianfredo, expo 1970
    Espace à structure variable
  • 12 Eier auf dem Rasen, Distel Herbert, expo 1970
    12 Eier auf dem Rasen
  • Figur 1967, Suter Paul, expo 1970
    Figur 1967
  • Sculpure, Perrin Fred, expo 1970
    Sculpure
  • Tension I, Staub Josef, expo 1970
    Tension I
  • Variable Plastik, Müller Ruth, expo 1970
    Variable Plastik
  • 4 Figuren auf Socke, Demut Trudi, expo 1970
    4 Figuren auf Socke
  • Grosser Rahmen, Müller-Brittnau Willy Siegenthaler Albert, expo 1970
    Grosser Rahmen
  • Environment mit 16 Elementen, Werro Roland, expo 1970
    Environment mit 16 Elementen
  • Receuillement griffu, Affolter André (Condé), expo 1970
    Receuillement griffu
  • Schwan I, Kohlbrenner Beat, expo 1970
    Schwan I
  • III -67 (Relief), Zürcher Arnold, expo 1970
    III -67 (Relief)
  • Sculpture, Rouiller Albert, expo 1970
    Sculpture
  • Spina dorsalis, Lienhard Robert, expo 1970
    Spina dorsalis
  • Figur 3. 69, Sieber Paul, expo 1970
    Figur 3. 69
  • Figur II, Sigrist Kurt, expo 1970
    Figur II
  • Stehender, Conne Louis, expo 1970
    Stehender
  • U-Pendel (Windmobile), Witschi Werner, expo 1970
    U-Pendel (Windmobile)
  • Rad oder Teil eines Ganzen sein, Agustoni Paul, expo 1970
    Rad oder Teil eines Ganzen sein
  • Raupe, Volz Hermann, expo 1970
    Raupe
  • Fontaine hydromobile HM 570, Zeller André-Paul, expo 1970
    Fontaine hydromobile HM 570
  • Bewegbare Plastik, Stieger Jacqueline, expo 1970
    Bewegbare Plastik
  • Otok II, Wyss Josef, expo 1970
    Otok II
  • Réalité, Boillat Claude, expo 1970
    Réalité
  • Komposition, Teucher Otto, expo 1970
    Komposition
  • Randonnées fantastiques, Weber Willy, expo 1970
    Randonnées fantastiques
  • Rencontre 4, Siegenthaler Albert, expo 1970
    Rencontre 4
  • Bas-relief, Musy Gérard, expo 1970
    Bas-relief
  • Bronzeleib XII – 1967, Rehmann Erwin, expo 1970
    Bronzeleib XII – 1967
  • Multiple-Mobile (9 Teile), Sommer Ed., expo 1970
    Multiple-Mobile (9 Teile)
  • Le Cycle éternel, Bucher André, expo 1970
    Le Cycle éternel
  • Morgen Seiltänzer alter Poesie, Burkhardt Kurt, expo 1970
    Morgen Seiltänzer alter Poesie
  • Bellissima, Weiss Max, expo 1970
    Bellissima
  • Organisation et sphères dans un espace, Candolfi Serge, expo 1970
    Organisation et sphères dans un espace
  • Torso, Germann-Jahn Charlotte, expo 1970
    Torso
  • Figur 1446, Benazzi Raffael, expo 1970
    Figur 1446
  • Silo I, Schneider Jimmy Fred, expo 1970
    Silo I
  • Définition d’un cube par 8 prismes hexagonaux, Ducimetière Gérald, expo 1970
    Définition d’un cube par 8 prismes hexagonaux
  • Figur, Fischli Hans, expo 1970
    Figur
  • Le Bête, Berthoud Francis, expo 1970
    Le Bête
  • Evangelisti, Rossi Remo, expo 1970
    Evangelisti
  • Eléments pour environnement, Jacot Pierre-Martin, expo 1970
    Eléments pour environnement
  • Anona, Margo (Weber-Junod), expo 1970
    Anona
  • E1, Duarte Angel, expo 1970
    E1
  • Le Cosmos, Monney René, expo 1970
    Le Cosmos
  • 5 Säulen A.E.I.O.U., White Gillian, expo 1970
    5 Säulen A.E.I.O.U.
  • Redner, Metzler Kurt Laurenz, expo 1970
    Redner
  • Dreiteilig-konzentrische Gruppe, Engler Jakob, expo 1970
    Dreiteilig-konzentrische Gruppe
  • Relief II, Gottardi Fritz Bruno, expo 1970
    Relief II
  • Kopf 1969, Müller Otto, expo 1970
    Kopf 1969
  • Figur II 1970, Aeschbacher Hans, expo 1970
    Figur II 1970
  • Volume Nr. 14, Honegger Gottfried, expo 1970
    Volume Nr. 14
  • Landender Ton, Stöcklin Eduard, expo 1970
    Landender Ton
  • Jeux d’eau, Rossini Alma, expo 1970
    Jeux d’eau
  • Fiore sonoro, Bellini G. Paolo, expo 1970
    Fiore sonoro
  • Sculpture 50 G, Wiggli Oskar, expo 1970
    Sculpture 50 G
  • Skulptur, Koch Ödon, expo 1970
    Skulptur
  • Studie zu einem Denkmal III, Schilling Albert, expo 1970
    Studie zu einem Denkmal III
  • Physikalisches Argument, Gruber Alfred, expo 1970
    Physikalisches Argument
  • 333 III, Lachat Nicole, expo 1970
    333 III
  • Relief, Bally Théodore, expo 1970
    Relief
  • Chimären, Häckel Wolfgang, expo 1970
    Chimären
  • Labyrinth, Sallenbach Katharina, expo 1970
    Labyrinth
  • La Rencontre, Studer-Koch Rosa, expo 1970
    La Rencontre
  • Spiegelobjekt (Environment), Megert Christian, expo 1970
    Spiegelobjekt (Environment)
  • Environnement, Bühler Rudi, expo 1970
    Environnement
  • Betongruppe, Kretz Walter, expo 1970
    Betongruppe
  • Verwandlung, Wagner Hans Ruedi, expo 1970
    Verwandlung