| Vito Schnabel Announces
Inaugural Programming for Vito Schnabel Gallery, St. Moritz Opening December 2015 |
| As reported by Robin Pogrebin in today’s New York Times, Vito Schnabel Gallery announces inaugural programming for St. Moritz.
(St. Moritz, Switzerland) Vito Schnabel is pleased to announce the programming for the first season at his eponymous gallery in Bruno Bischofberger’s former space in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Opening in December 2015, the Vito Schnabel Gallery is Schnabel’s first permanent gallery space and reflects his longstanding commitment to supporting living artists. The gallery’s inaugural program will pay homage to Bischofberger, who has been Schnabel’s mentor and with whom he has co-presented three exhibitions. In addition to offering rigorous programming, Schnabel will renovate the gallery’s lower level to create an additional 1000 sq. ft. of exhibition space. Commenting on the new gallery, Schnabel said: “Bruno has remained one of the most important figures in the international art community since he opened his first gallery in Zurich in 1963. Bruno’s incredible eye as well as the manner in which he operates his gallery; working so closely with his artists and incorporating their work into his own collection, has always been inspiring to me. I am honored that he is giving me this opportunity.” Schnabel hopes to conduct his gallery practice in the same spirit by providing artists with a permanent and thoughtful international platform. The gallery’s inaugural exhibition will be Urs Fischer’s Bruno & Yoyo (December 29, 2015 – January 31, 2016). This will be the Swiss artist’s first solo show in Switzerland since 2008. Known for working across a variety of mediums, Fischer will present new paintings and sculptures including a new transient wax sculpture featuring a life-size Bischofberger seated with his wife Yoyo. Over the course of the exhibition, as the wicks are left to burn, the wax figures will melt into a pair of baroque oak chairs – the artist’s nod to the dealer’s collection. In Parkett Nicholas Cullinan describes Fischer’s waxworks as “doppelgängers” serving as “doubles or placeholders for people and things departed.” The space’s transition from Bischofberger to Schnabel makes this work a particularly poignant tribute to the Swiss dealer’s venerable role in the space. Concurrently, Vito Schnabel Gallery will present an offsite public art installation by Sterling Ruby, entitled STOVES, which will remain on view through March 27, 2016. The installation will be comprised of multiple working wood-burning stoves, each measuring 14 to 17 feet in height, set inside a garden across from the gallery at the Kulm Hotel. The installation is a continuation of the artist’s series currently on view at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. It reflects the gallery’s ongoing intention to curate this and other public spaces throughout St. Moritz year-round as an extension of its programming. About Vito Schnabel: Vito Schnabel is an independent curator and contemporary art dealer based in New York. He produced his first exhibition in 2003 at the age of 16. Prior to opening the gallery in St. Moritz, Schnabel presented shows in varied locations such as Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, Switzerland, Acquavella Galleries in New York, a cloistered garden in Venice during the Venice Biennale, photographer Richard Avedon’s former studio, and the Farley Post Office in New York, carefully matching his artists’ work with unique and temporary exhibition settings. This past year, he curated an exhibition of Ron Gorchov’s paintings at Sotheby’s S|2 in London, and in May, he presented a group show at the historic Germania Bank Building on the Bowery, which had not been open to the public since the mid-1960s. The exhibition included works by Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Jeff Elrod, Ron Gorchov, Mark Grotjahn, Harmony Korine, and Julian Schnabel. In addition to the St. Moritz gallery, Schnabel has an office and private exhibition space where he conducts his daily operations. |
