Swiss artists remix Ferdinand Hodler for the 21st century

Ferdinand Hodler’s art has been repeatedly used to depict conservative or retrograde ideas of Swissness. Zurich’s Kunsthaus proposes a new take, highlighting Hodler’s more progressive stances through the eyes, and works, of contemporary artists. A woman in a blue dress, her arms raised and face tilted, seems to be swaying in a solemn, solitary dance. The painting by Ferdinand Hodler, perhaps Switzerland’s best-known and best-loved modern artist, forms the centrepiece of an exhibition at the Zurich Museum of Art (Kunsthaus) called Apropos Hodler: Current Perspectives on an Icon. But instead of hanging on a blank museum wall, Lied in der Ferne (Song in the Distance, 1914) is mounted on a stylised mountainscape of cool blues and pale yellow by Nicolas Party, a contemporary artist and co-creator of the exhibition (see picture above). The exhibition, which runs until the end of June, shows Hodler’s paintings with installations, photography, paintings and video works by about 30 ...