Katja Loher
Will doves rise from turbans when the Indian trains whisper?
9th June - 14th July, 2018
Intense colors, whirring movement, shimmering glass: the magical, precisely crafted objects by Swiss artist Katja Loher teach us to be amazed at her imaginary power, and to re-discover nature's staggering yet fragile beauty.
Combining glass and choreographed videos, Loher composes truly magical universes in which music, choreographers, and male and female dancers in specially designed costumes come together in perfect co-ordination. The artist integrates her intensely colorful videos in various objects such as table covers or glass spheres of her own design that were hand-crafted by a woman glassblower.
Her most recent works are "birds' nests" that, seen from afar, appear to be shimmering mandalas in motion. A closer look reveals astutely choreographed dances that reveal the secret lives of honeybees, birds and plants. The human actors in Loher's virtual natural environments behave creatively rather than destructively. Raising our awareness of nature's beauty and fragility, the pieces also evoke and encourage our own positive energies.
Born in Zürich, Switzerland, Loher studied art in Geneva and Basel. Since 2004, she has lived in New York City. Her unique video objects have won her numerous awards, and now form part of several significant collections. Loher's works are on display at internationally renowned art galleries and museums such as The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA; the World Expo Museum in Shanghai, China; the Museu Brasileiro da Escultura in São Paulo, Brazil; and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Loher’s work has been commissioned for large-scale Art & Architecture projects at the new headquarters of SwissGrid, Switzerland (opening Sept 2018), Related Group/Jorge Perez, at SLS Hotel, Miami, USA (2016), and Oasis VIP Lounge, at Bogota Airport, Colombia (2015).
Most of the video works on display at Galerie Andres Thalmann were created during Loher's stay in November 2017 as artist in residence at the Basu Foundation for the Arts in Kolkata, India. Both her invitation to Kolkata and her Zürich exhibition celebrate 70 Years of Swiss-Indian Friendship: Connecting Minds – Inspiring the Future – 1948-2018.
We would like to take this opportunity to give our most sincere thanks to Sushil Premchand, Abhishek Basu (Basu Foundation), Luc Richner (Old Fashioned Cosmopolitan) and to the Embassy of Switzerland in India, for their support and co-operation.
Alice Henkes
Biography
Press – Fantasie und Präzision, Handelszeitung, 28th June 2018 (German)