Woodstock

In her exhibition at the message salon, Zurich-based artist Zuni Halpern presents a series of etchings and a multi-part video work that she began in 2001 and continues to this day. In these short film productions, the artist addresses seemingly mundane everyday questions to a counterpart and answers them in the role of a second self. In the video sequence “Malen” (Painting), the artist appears as a character who becomes entangled in contradictions about the question of painting, the choice of technique and the discussion of the “good image”. The new etchings were created at the same time as the video “Malen”, in which Zuni Halpern addresses her crisis with her own demands on painting. Determining the right medium is a recurring theme in Zuni Halpern’s work. Using painting, video, sculpture or textiles, the artist searches for the appropriate interplay of form and content.
Zuni Halpern’s graphic sheets show pure, monochrome surfaces, drawings, texts or shadow play in colourless embossing. The etchings were created in collaboration with printer and artist Peter Stiefel. “Woodstock,” the title of the series, is an ironic reference to American art of the 1960s and a romanticised longing for the hippie era, free love and a liberated society – the failed ideals of the parent generation.