ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Istituto Svizzero presents the first retrospective in Italy on renowned painter Klodin Erb. Encompassing almost 90 works, some of which specifically produced for the exhibition, A different kind of furs celebrates one of the most influential current Swiss artists. Presenting large-scale paintings, collages, sculptures, textiles, and video works dated between 1999 and 2023, the exhibition traces Klodin Erbs’ artistic practice through a non-chronological perspective but rather exploring visual connections between all works. Since the late ’90s, Klodin Erb’s practice revolves around the medium of painting in a free and experimental form, combining current and timeless topics to generate playful and fantastic worlds, often questioning definitions of gender and identity. Her practice also emerges outside the canvases and explores the boundaries of painting through different formats and materials. For this show, the artist particularly reflects on the concept of fur and its associations. In a lively and ironic way, she uses artificial furs sewn onto canvases, painted furs, and wigs to offer a reflection on (stereotyped) forms of gender identities but also as symbols that break these very norms. Influenced by popular and web culture as well as art history, Klodin Erb’s A different kind of furs provides an unprecedent and in-depth overview on the artist’s vivid universe. 

The exhibition is accompanied by an artist book, in collaboration with Mousse Publishing, designed by Teo Schifferli and with contributions from Yasmin Afschar, Jacqueline Burckhardt, Gioia Dal Molin, Kadiatou Diallo, Dorothee Elmiger, Hayat Erdoğan, Tobi Müller, Filipa Ramos, Michele Robecchi, Adam Szymczyk, and Julian Zigerli.

Curated by Gioia Dal Molin.

Download the curatorial text and floorplan here. 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Istituto Svizzero
Via Ludovisi 48, Rome
Free entry

Klodin Erb (1963, Winterthur, Switzerland) is one of the most renowned current Swiss painters. In her expressive, fantastic pictorial worlds, she explores the boundaries of painting and simultaneously questions definitions of gender and identity. In an effort to combine topicality and timelessness in her paintings, the artist uses various techniques to ‘sample’ borrowings from art history with motifs from the contemporary world. Klodin Erb lives and works in Zurich and is a lecturer at the Department of Design & Art at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Her works are represented in the collections of various museums, including the Kunstmuseum Bern; Kunstmuseum Winterthur; Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen; Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, as well as many private collections. Recently she had important solo exhibitions at the Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne; Gluri Suter Huus, Wettingen; Helvetia Art Foyer, Basel; and was included in group exhibitions, amongst others Die Augen der Bilder – Porträts von Fragonard bis Dumas, Museum Langmatt, Baden; Docking Station, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau; Un(certain) ground. Aktuelle Malerei in der Schweiz, Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel; After Bob Ross: Beauty is everywhere, Museum im Bellpark, Kriens.

For press inquires, please contact press@istitutosvizzero.it.

Acknowledgements:
Lullin + Ferrari, Zurich
Art Collection of the Canton of Zurich
Susanne Annette Flühler-Pégard and other private lenders