Harald Szeemann

Harald Szeemann (June 11 1933 in Bern – February 18 2005 in Tegna, Ticino) was a Swiss curator and art historian.

Life

After studying art history, archaeology and journalism in Bern and Paris, Szeemann worked in 1956 as an actor, stage designer and painter, and also did one-man shows. He started creating exhibitions in 1957. From 1961 to 1969 he was curator of the Kunsthalle Bern, where he organised in 1963 an exhibition of works by the "mentally ill" from the collection of the art historian and psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn, and in 1969 the legendary exhibition "When Attitudes Become Form". In 1968 he gave Christo and Jeanne-Claude their first opportunity to package an entire building: the Kunsthalle.

After leaving the Kunsthalle he founded the "Museum of Obsessions", and the "Agentur für Geistige Gastarbeit" ("Agency for Spiritual Migrant Work", "Gastarbeit" being formed from "Gastarbeiter", the German term for migrant workers). In 1972 he was the youngest artistic director at documenta 5 in Kassel. He revolutionised the concept: conceived as a hundred-day event, he invited the artists to present not only paintings and sculptures, but also performances and "happenings". From 1981 to 1991 he was the sole curator of the Kunsthaus Zürich , and in 1980 he co-hosted the Venice Biennale, where he created the "Aperto" exhibition for young artists. He was among the few to curate the Biennale twice, in 1999 and 2001.

In 1982 Szeemann commissioned a [http://merzbaurekonstruktion.com/index.html three-dimensional reconstruction] of Kurt Schwitters's Hannover Merzbau (as photographed in 1933) for the exhibition 'Der Hang zum Gesamtkunstwerk' in Zurich in 1983. It was built by the Swiss stage designer [http://www.bissegger.com/index_e.htm Peter Bissegger] and is now on permanent display in the [http://www.sprengel-museum.de/v1/englisch/smhframes.html Sprengel Museum] in Hannover.

Szeemann played a key role in shaping the architecture faculty ("Accademia di Architettura") at the Università della Svizzera italiana, the first university in Italian Switzerland, for the first six years after its founding in 1996.

From 1961 he belonged to the artists' group "Collège de 'Pataphysique'", from 1997 he was a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and in 2000 he was awarded the Max Beckmann Prize. Szeemann was married to the artist Ingeborg Lüscher, and lived in the village of Tegna in Ticino, Switzerland.

Notability

Szeemann invented the modern-day "Großausstellung" ("great exhibition"), in which the artworks are tied to a central concept and are assembled into new and often surprising interrelationships. His over 200 exhibitions were distinguished by a great abundance of material and a broad range of themes. Important reference points were subversiveness, alternative lifestyles (for example Monte Verità), and the "Gesamtkunstwerk" ("total artwork", Wagner's concept of a work which spans all the arts), to which his own exhibitions, in a certain sense, were also indebted.

External links

* L'Ecole du Magasin International Curatorial Training Program, CNAC [http://www.ecolemagasin.com/session16/] . Official website for session 16 of L'Ecole du Magasin, National Contemporary Art Center located in Grenoble, France. The theme of research for session 16 (2006-2007) was Harald Szeemann, his archive, and curatorial practice. On this site, you will find exhaustive information regarding their research, including audio, photo, and video documentation of interviews with artists and professionals in the art field.
* Obrist, Hans-Ulrich "Mind over matter - interview with Harald Szeemann" [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_n3_v35/ai_18963443] ("Art Forum", November 1996)
* Smith, Roberta "Obituary: Harald Szeemann, Innovative Curator" [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/25/news/obits.php] ("New York Times", February 26, 2005)
* Vetrocq, Marcia E. "Harald Szeemann (1933-2005)" [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_4_93/ai_n13629202] ("Art In America", April 2005)
* Winkelmann, Jan "Failure as a poetic dimension. A conversation with Harald Szeemann" [http://www.jnwnklmnn.de/szeem_e.htm] ("Metropolis M. Tijdschrift over hedendaagse kunst", No. 3, June 2001)