The Bisazza Foundation for Design and Contemporary Architecture honors German photographer Candida Höfer, with an exhibition entitled “Candida Höfer. Images of Architecture”, a journey through more than twenty large-format photographs personally chosen by the artist, that will be on display from May 9th to July 27th, 2014.
This represents new territory for the Bisazza Foundation, who will host in its spacious gallery rooms its first classic and contemporary architecture show, in celebration of the work of one of the most influential photographers on the international scene.
Long the preferred subject matter of Candida Höfer’s photography are the interiors of public spaces – museums, libraries, public archives, theaters, offices, banks, historic buildings – all photographed with straightforward composition and long exposure times, devoid of any human figures, and illuminated solely by ambient light. Her photographs are known for their unique sharpness and clarity and do not employ any form of digital enhancement.
Presented from this perspective, free of human occupants, her images of these temples of knowledge and learning offer the viewer the opportunity to establish an exclusive relationship with the space being portrayed, while immersed in solitary contemplation, where every detail (which might otherwise be invisible) can be captured by the eye.
These intimately subjective images are true “architectural portraits”, expressions of the unique and strikingly effective style for which Candida Höfer, who is also along with Bisazza Foundation curator of this show, has long been appreciated.
“The subjects of my work are public and semi-public spaces. I prefer them when they are without people. Spaces then seem to tell more about people, what they do for them and what people have been doing to them. Spaces are about light. This is why I photograph them in the light that I find in them, may it be natural or artificial light. Spaces have functions. Functions create similarities. I am fascinated by the differences in these similarities.” Candida Höfer
Foto. Fondazione Bisazza_Casa Musica Porto IV _2006 – Photo ©Candida Höfer, Köln; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014″
Works on exhibit at the Bisazza Foundation:
• Autorimessa Comunale Venezia I 2003
• Collegium Helveticum ETH Zürich 2005
• Fundacao Bienal de São Paulo I 2005
• Fundacao Bienal de São Paulo II 2005
• Real Gabinete Português de Leitura Rio de Janeiro IV 2005
• Palais Garnier Paris XXXI 2005
• Teatro alla Scala Milano III 2005
• Palàcio do Itamarati Brasilia I 2005
• Biblioteca do Palácio e Convento de Mafra I 2006
• Casa Musica Porto IV 2006
• Casa Musica Porto V 2006
• Casa Musica Porto I 2006
• Palàcio da Bolsa no Porto II 2006
• Neues Museum Weimar II 2006 – Daniel Buren
• Goethe-Nationalmuseum Weimar II 2006
• Opernhaus Köln II 2007
• Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne Paris I 2007
• Julia Stoschek Collection Düsseldorf V 2008
• Lauder Business School Wien III 2004
• Bibliotheca dei Girolamini Napoli I 2009
• Neues Museum Berlin XXII 2009
• SANAA-Gebäude Essen I 2009
• Abadía Cisterciense Santa María la Real de Oseira I 2010
• IES Otero Pedrayo Ourense II 2010
• Convento de San Francisco de Val de Dio Santiago de Compostela I 2010
• Archivo General de Indias Sevilla II 2010
• Archivo General de Indias Sevilla I 2010
• Binding Brauerei Kassel I 2004
• Galleria Gio Marconi Milano I 2005
• Neues Museum Berlin I 2009
BIOGRAPHY
Candida Höfer attended the Düsseldorf Arts Academy, initially studying film with Ole John, then photography with Bernd Becher. Her work has been exhibited internationally in many prestigious museums, like the Kunsthalle in Basel, the Kunsthalle in Berne, the Portikus in Frankfurt, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Power Plant in Toronto, the Kunsthaus Bregenz, and the Museo Ludwig in Cologne. In 2002 Candida Höfer participated in Documenta 11, and in 2003 – along with Martin Kippenberger – represented Germany at the Biennale di Venezia.
The artist lives in Cologne.
Foto: Fondazione Bisazza_ Casa Musica Porto I _2006 – Photo ©Candida Höfer, Köln; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014″
THE BISAZZA FOUNDATION
The project of the Foundation – a private non-profit organization open to the public – arises from the attention and sensitivity towards the culture of design and architecture that has always animated Bisazza.
Piero and Rossella Bisazza, respectively the President and Vice-President of the Foundation, state: “the Bisazza Foundation has a dual vocation: it is intended as an exhibition space to bring together works and installations by contemporary designers and architects who, over the course of the last 20 years, have created original applications for mosaics; it is also proposed as a cultural subject in continuous interaction with other international institutions for the purposes of hosting projects and exhibitions of design and architecture, not necessarily associated with mosaics”.
The spaces of the Foundation are spread over an area of approximately 6000 m2, which in the past was reserved for company production, and then refurbished and converted into exhibition areas in keeping with designer Carlo Dal Bianco’s project.
The substantial permanent collection consists of installations created by designers such as Tord Boontje, Aldo Cibic, Sandro Chia, Jaime Hayon, Arik Levy, Alessandro Mendini, Fabio Novembre, Mimmo Paladino, Andrée Putman, Ettore Sottsass, Studio Job, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders, and, from May 2013, Richard Meier.
An area of more than 1000 m2 is given over to accommodating travelling exhibitions and installations by internationally renowned designers, produced by the Foundation or developed in collaboration with it, on tour from foreign institutions. The Foundation’s intent is to interact and dialogue with other foundations and museums of design and architecture, creating a network for the presentation of unique projects in Italy.
Foto: Fondazione Bisazza_Palacio da Bolsa no Porto II 2006 – Photo ©Candida Höfer, Köln; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014″
EXHIBITIONS
The Bisazza Foundation was inaugurated in June 2012 with a show from the Design Museum in London dedicated to the work of John Pawson, and entitled John Pawson – Plain Space. Architecture and Design. The British architect also designed a site-specific installation entitled “1:1 (One to One)” that is now part of the Permanent Collection. In November of 2012, The Foundation organized and mounted the first design exhibition, developed in collaboration with Arik Levy, which he called Experimental Growth. For the Foundation, Arik Levy also designed a site-specific installation called “RockChamber”, entirely covered in black mosaic tiles.
A retrospective dedicated to the work of Richard Meier was mounted in May of 2013 for the 50th anniversary of his work. The American architect also designed a site-specific installation called “Internal Time”, for the Foundation’s Permanent Collection.
PERMANENT WORKS OF THE FOUNDATION
Alessandro Mendini, Il Cavaliere di Dürer, 2011
Alessandro Mendini, Mobili per Uomo, 1997-2008
Alessandro Mendini, Poltrona di Proust Monumentale, 2005
Arik Levy, Rock Chamber, 2012
Ettore Sottsass, Ritrovati frammenti di Mosaico, 2005-2006
Jaime Hayon, Jet Set, 2008
Jaime Hayon, Pixel Ballet, 2007
John Pawson, 1:1 (One to One), 2012
Marcel Wanders, Bisazza Motel, 2004
Sandro Chia, Bagnanti intelligenti 2002 and Divano a mare 2003
Mimmo Paladino, Buon Viaggio and Buona Fortuna, 2006
Studio Job, Silver Ware, 2007
Patricia Urquiola, By Side, 2006
Fabio Novembre, Godot, 2003
Fabio Novembre, Love Over All, 2003
Richard Meier, Internal Time, 2013
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President – Piero Bisazza
Vice president – Rossella Bisazza
Members – Roberta and Alessandro Bisazza
Director – Maria Cristina Didero
ADVISORY BOARD
Alessandro Mendini – Architect and Designer
Alexander von Vegesack – Chairman of the Vitra Design Museum
Hervé Chandès – Director of Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain
Guta Moura Guedes – Director of ExperimentaDesign
Stefano Casciani – Editor of Disegno: la nuova cultura industriale
Foto: Fondazione Bisazza_entrance
“Candida Höfer. Images of Architecture”
May 9 to July 27, 2014
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm
Admission is free
For further information:
Fondazione Bisazza
Viale Milano, 56 36075 Montecchio Maggiore – VI Italia
Ph. +39.0444.707690
info@fondazionebisazza.it
www.fondazionebisazza.it
