 Claudia und Julia Müller WE KNOW NOTHING AND SHOULD BE EVERYTHING. We are happy to invite you to the opening of the show of Claudia & Julia Müller. It is the third solo show by Claudia (*1964) and Julia (*1965) Müller in our gallery. The artists, sisters, live and work in Basel, Switzerland. Until the year 1932 the Zoological Garden of Basel has organized "Exhibitions of Animals and People" (as they still communicate on their website). These shows have been "utterly popular". "Arenas for wild beasts were set up, or entire villages where Nubians, Moroccans or Singhalese lived for weeks and presented dances of war and masks, or they charmed snakes." It was by no means a specialty of Basel. In Zoos, on fairs from Berlin to Bergen, from Copenhagen to Zurich "dying out long-lipped negro women" were exhibited, 12 year old boys from Somalia, women from Samoa, men from Senegal, by preference exposed. One could feel a "Hottentot Venus", "whichdoctors" danced wildly, a group of "Eskimos" paddled wives and kids in artificial pools. The public was even admitted to watch women giving birth. Some of the people exposed died of illnesses. The "Hottentot Venus" had, by negligence, not been vaccined agains pocks. After her death, at the age of 26, the Venus' labia was put on display in a collection of history of medicine. These "sad trophies", as an author comments, were transported in "carefully locked-up cattle wagons" to Europe, as a group of Singhalese people in 1885. They were shown side by side behind bars next to the caged-in animals. This forced exhibitionism and also the voyeurism of the "Exhibition of Animals and People" in the Zoological Garden of Basel in 1926, is the major starting-point of the walldrawing done by the two artists. It is the main topic of the show, an argument dealing with colonialism and desire, moral and shamless exploitiation, artificiality and nature, despotism and submission, longing and frustration. In the smaller room of the gallery the two artists pick up archetypical behavioural patterns. They use puppets, popular in Switzerland‘s puppet theatres, like "Chasperli" – or Casper. Eight puppets represent a character each (Casper, his friend Seppli, King, Monster, Devil, Princess, Policeman, Grand-Ma) and play - mute - in three video sequences patterns of human conduct. The title of the show – not to know anything and to have to be everything – is a quotation of Karl Marx. In the bigger room of the gallery we also show a new block of drawings and collages. In the current year Claudia & Julia Müller took part in shows at Kunsthalle Basel, Landesmuseum Joanneum Graz, at Art Biennale in Tirana, at Kunsthaus Aarau, at Gorney Bravin + Lee Gallery in New York City and at Michelle Macarone‘s awardwinning booth at Art Forum Berlin. Ausstellungsdauer: 27.10. - 22.12.2001 Oeffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 12 -18 Uhr, Sa 12 -16 Uhr Galerie Peter Kilchmann Limmatstrasse 270 CH-8005 Zürich Telefon +41 1 440 39 31 Fax +41 1 440 39 32 E-Mail info@kilchmanngalerie.com www.kilchmanngalerie.com |
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