translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
090309: Kunstmuseum Luzern: Urs Lüthi – Art is the better life
Kunstmuseum Luzern: Urs Lüthi – Art is the better life
Art is the better life
Urs Lüthi’s “Numbergirls”, a photo series consisting of 20 androgynous self-portraits, glance lasciviously from the walls of the Kunstmuseum Luzern. It was these photos that made Lüthi, born 1947, to one of the shooting stars of the Swiss art scene in the 70s; and to this day the aesthetically stringent black-and-white photos have lost none of their fascination.
Self-portraits are the artist’s leitmotiv and make his works easily identifiable, despite some harsh stylistic breaks, which one regularly comes across in his work. They are a kind of style characteristic in themselves. Lüthi is successful at transferring individual motifs, especially the image of his head, from one creation phase to the next. The works are hung in such a way that they enter a dialogue with one another. They offer an insight into the artist’s working methods and his creations in their entirety.
In the 90s, Lüthi discovered the perfect style to catch the audience’s attention: the brash colours, large formats, concise slogans and shiny surfaces of the advertising world. The boundaries between art and non-art disappeared on a visual level, while they continued to exist on a contextual and content level. Lüthi is not advertising a sellable product, rather he tries to advertise art and its potential to uncover and question social norms, stereotypes, and ideals. Despite his continuous struggle for inspiration, Lüthi adheres to his maxim: “Art is the better life”, the precept he created on the occasion of his participation at the Venice Biennial in 2001.
Sylvia Mutti
Kunstmuseum Luzern
6002 Luzern, Europaplatz 1, until 10.05.09
www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch
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090309
Kunstmuseum Luzern
6002 Luzern, Europaplatz 1
Tel: +41 (0) 41 226 78 00, Fax: +41 (0) 41 226 78 01
Email: info@kunstmuseumluzern.ch
http://www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch/
Öffnungszeiten: Di, Mi 10-20, Do-So 10-17 h
Kunstmuseum Luzern
6002 Luzern, Europaplatz 1
Tel: +41 (0) 41 226 78 00, Fax: +41 (0) 41 226 78 01
Email: info@kunstmuseumluzern.ch
http://www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch/
Öffnungszeiten: Di, Mi 10-20, Do-So 10-17 h