close

Publications - 27.06.2013 - 00:00 

The new HSG art guide

The HSG is also a place of art. An overview of the many works on show can be found in the new edition of the art guide entitled “art in architecture”. Gabrielle Boller’s texts are illustrated with numerous photographs.

$alt

In a certain way, the HSG’s pronounced commitment to the fine arts is a visual expression of the deep-rooted significance of the humanities subjects taught in contextual studies at our University. In conjunction with the recently concluded renovation of the Main Building and the conversions and new buildings, no fewer than seven new works of art arrived on the campus, among them 14 videos by Roman Signer and a giant self-portrait by the Chinese painter Yan Pei-Ming, which hangs in the sports hall.

Besides the high-class works of the 1960s in the Main Building and the impressive series of 1989 in the Library Building, these works provided the occasion for the publication of a new art guide, which describes all three stages within their architectural context. The brochure will shortly also appear in English for the benefit of foreign visitors.

Companions of everyday university life

Interaction with architecture is also what is focused on by the artists themselves, who usually develop their projects here at the University and then integrate them into the buildings. The large-sized tableaux by Antoni Tàpies in the so-called “Tête” were already painted on site. It would be wrong to claim that the HSG collects art, even invests in it and exhibits the works like a museum. Rather, the works of art quite unpretentiously accompany us through everyday university life.

And the commissions are usually awarded to relatively young artists, whose works are still affordable but – as in the cases of Giacometti and Richter – turned out to be genuine hits. Ever since the outset, the members of the Art Committee have raised the funds to buy new works; public monies have never been used for the purpose. The HSG considers itself fortunate with its first-class works of art, which amaze visitors – and indeed continue to amaze us, too.

Discover our special topics

north