While in Switzerland I have been working on a web-based project which launches next week - more on that later - and this has delayed my much anticipated tales from Zürich and Basel, where the Renzo Piano-designed Beyeler Foundation blew me away. Although not large art districts, there is a high quality of art going on in Zürich and it was refreshing to see a focus on young contemporary Swiss artists from all mediums. This was prevalent in the Aussersihl district, a hang out for young curators and gallerists. I was staying in the industrial area of Löwenbräuareal and Umgebung with the ex-brewery of the Migros Museum and Kunsthalle, housing the likes of Hauser & Wirth, Bob van Orsouw and the Migros-own sponsored spaces. Highlights included Paul McCarthy at Hauser & Wirth, Philippe Parreno at Kunsthalle and Christoph Ruckhäberle at Migros Museum, whose paintings I wanted to ship home with me.
In the innenstadt rechts der Limmat and its leafy neighbourhoods, one can find gallery-converted city villas, my favourite being the beautiful space of semina rerum by Irène Presiwerk that was so individual and a triumph above commonplace white cube spaces. Only a few blocks away lies the Kunsthaus Museum of Modern Art, showcasing a retrospective of german-artist Katharina Frtisch filled with large-scale sculptures fused with images of her native surroundings and Pop culture.
And to conclude, I couldn't end without commenting on the subject of food. A Zürich landmark, the Kronenhalle restaurant is much more than a restaurant. Original works by Klee, Chagall, Matisee, Miró, Kandinsky, Braque, Picasso and many more early-twentieth-century masters line the walls of the wood-panelled dining room as you dine on exquisite Swiss cuisine - try the veal and potato roesti and toast to the founding matriarch's taste in fine art.
In the innenstadt rechts der Limmat and its leafy neighbourhoods, one can find gallery-converted city villas, my favourite being the beautiful space of semina rerum by Irène Presiwerk that was so individual and a triumph above commonplace white cube spaces. Only a few blocks away lies the Kunsthaus Museum of Modern Art, showcasing a retrospective of german-artist Katharina Frtisch filled with large-scale sculptures fused with images of her native surroundings and Pop culture.
And to conclude, I couldn't end without commenting on the subject of food. A Zürich landmark, the Kronenhalle restaurant is much more than a restaurant. Original works by Klee, Chagall, Matisee, Miró, Kandinsky, Braque, Picasso and many more early-twentieth-century masters line the walls of the wood-panelled dining room as you dine on exquisite Swiss cuisine - try the veal and potato roesti and toast to the founding matriarch's taste in fine art.
