On the occasion of the major exhibition of the works of Markus Raetz in Lugano (LAC, 30 January 2016 – 1 May 2016), the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana and Edizioni Casagrande have published an artist’s book dedicated to the installation “Chambre de lecture” consisting of 432 metal wire profiles hung like “mobiles” before the walls of a room.
The book is a pocket-sized translation of the artwork – of its movement, of the way the profiles change constantly, and of how they interact with each other: the “reading room” thus becomes a “reading book”, where the human physiognomies appear to be transformed into the letters of an alphabet that is at once familiar and mysterious, recognizable yet undecipherable.
The book also includes two short essays by Marco Franciolli and Francesca Bernasconi and a colour photography supplement of Raetz’s studio by Alexander Jaquemet. The graphic design is by Andrea Muheim and Lioba Wackernell.
Markus Raetz (1941) is one of Switzerland’s most famous and appreciated contemporary artists. His major shows include: “documenta 4” (1968) and “When Attitudes Become Form” (Kunsthalle Bern, 1969). Among his recent shows, in addition to the one in Lugano, are major retrospectives of his work in 2014 hosted by the Musée Jenisch of Vevey and the Kunstmuseum Bern. Raetz is the author of dozens of publications and artist’s books, one of which is the wellknown
“MIMI”, 1981 (republished in 2005). His many catalogues include the recent Markus Raetz. Zeichnungen (Hatje Cantz, 2012) and Markus Raetz. Die Druckgraphik. Les estampes. The prints 1951-2013 (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2014).