A research and scenic installation about the artist muse, fashion icon and whore Irene Staub, known as Lady Shiva.
Mara Züst, cultural mediator, publicist and administrator of the estate of Andreas Züst, is showing a snapshot of her many years of research into Lady Shiva, who left her mark on the Zurich art scene of the 1970s and 1980s, in a scenic installation by Zurich artist Steffen Kuhn at message salon. The arrangement of photographs, newspaper cuttings, texts, books, films and art creates a picture of a woman who fascinated and inspired artists of her time and thus wrote Zurich art history.
“Irène’s youth began in a rural area of eastern Switzerland, where only the drunks laughed. After school, she began an apprenticeship as a hairdresser. 16 years, blonde hair, a harsh climate, Sundays with the smell of roast meat and boredom were reason enough for Irène to leave. To Frankfurt. Mother at 18. At 20, a self-employed prostitute in Zurich. Suddenly she was the attraction at the parties of so-called high society, which had always suffered from a lack of originality. In the early 70s, she began travelling the world. She keeps a diary of everyone and everything. Her friendships with Daniel Schmid, David Bowie, H.R. Giger, The Stranglers, Wolf Wondratschek and others date from this time. The lost youth has now been made up for. Irène becomes a bon vivant and a party animal, a bon vivant and a figure of integration. She is an oracle and contact point for the whole world. For many, it is the Grossmünster. Instead of going to church, people go to her.” (uvs) about the short film “Irène 15.02.85” (CH 1985; 7′), by Buro Claire de Nuit (Angelo de Rota/Jürg Egli)
An exhibition with original works and documentary material by Buro Claire de Nuit (Angelo de Rota/Jürg Egli), Luciano Castelli, Achim Duchow, Franz Gertsch, Roswitha Hecke, Urs Marty, Ernst Mitzka, Ulrike Oettinger, Walter Pfeiffer, Sigmar Polke, Ursula Rodel, Tula Roy/Christoph Wirsing, Daniel Schmid, Thema Selection (Sissi Zoebeli), Wes Winter, Andreas Züst and many more. Concept: Mara Züst; Exhibition: Steffen Kuhn and Mara Züst
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication “Lady Shiva” by Mara Züst, designed and printed by Dafi Kühne, 10 pages, edition of 300, Zurich 2011