John Armleder and Ecart

John Armleder, Ecart group

Curated by Lionel Bovier

September 15–October 21, 2012

Installation view (detail) Ambiente ’74, Ecart Group, 1974, Villa Malpensata Lugano, Switzerland. Courtesy John Armleder and Ecart Archives at the Cabinets d'arts graphiques, Musee d'art et histoire, Geneva.

Charles H. Scott Gallery is pleased to present John Armleder and Ecart. The exhibition focuses on Swiss artist John Armleder’s early Fluxus-related works with Ecart, a group Armleder founded with Patrick Lucchini and Claude Rychner in Geneva in the late 1960s.

The Ecart Group published artists’ books, presented exhibitions and performances, and opened a bookstore/gallery that is considered to be “one of the most important alternative spaces in Europe in the 1970s” (Ken Friedman). Ecart worked with many artists including Dick Higgins, Lawrence Weiner, Annette Messager, Daniel Spoerri, Giuseppe Chiari, and Maurizio Nannucci. The exhibition features artworks made by Armleder and Ecart and includes a complete set of Ecart publications, works on paper, mail art projects, films, and sound works created for Paul McCarthy’s Close Radio.

The exhibition is generously supported by Pro Helvetia and The Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver.

Public Programmes

Opening Reception
Saturday, September 14, 2 PM
Charles H. Scott Gallery

Biographies

John Armleder has been a principal figure in the international contemporary art world for over forty years. Throughout his career Armleder has engaged in a wide variety of artistic practices including sculpture, painting, performance and installation. He has also worked as a critic, editor, and curator. The artist is currently having a solo exhibition at The Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art in New York. Armleder has an extensive exhibition record and has shown throughout Europe, as well as in Asia and the USA. John Armleder and Ecart will be the artist’s first exhibition in Canada.

Lionel Bovier is an art historian who lives in Paris and Zurich. He has directed the leading Swiss art publishing company JRP|Ringier since 2004. He has written several books on contemporary art and has organized numerous exhibitions during the 1990s. This project marks his return to curatorial practice.