She lived a secluded life far removed from the art scene and exemplified an expanded concept of art. She rejected the idea of art versus non-art and instead widened its definition to include research, medicine, and nature as well as to the supernatural, the magical and the visionary.
The fascination with Emma Kunz (1892–1963) is greater today than ever before. Emma Kunz was a researcher, artist and healer from Switzerland. While she is now primarily known for her unique and vibrant drawings on graph paper, made with pendulum, compass and ruler, she was also a naturopath and was consulted on questions about health and life. Kunz, however, considered her practice as a form of science in its own right; a way of producing knowledge. In response to the pertinence of her cross-disciplinary and holistic practice the exhibition Emma Kunz Cosmos places her oeuvre in a dialogue with contemporary art. It shows a wide selection of Emma Kunz's drawings alongside works by contemporary artists who reflect on Kunz's work or on specific themes related to her research
“My visual work is made for the twenty-first century!” Emma Kunz is said to have predicted that a time would come when her drawings would be understood. In fact, much of what she anticipated in her holistic thinking seems natural in today’s art. She lived a secluded life far removed from the art scene and exemplified an expanded concept of art. She rejected the idea of art versus non-art and instead widened its definition to include research, medicine, and nature as well as to the supernatural, the magical and the visionary.
Emma Kunz is what one would call an artists’ artist. Her artistic work and her person as a historical female figure have been consistently attracting the interest of contemporary artists. The dialogue with recently produced works by eighteen local and international artists examines this and at the same time displays new and unfamiliar angles of an oeuvre that is highly contemporary in a time where traditional categories need to be critically questioned.
Emma Kunz Cosmos is the first major exhibition in Spain dedicated to Emma Kunz.
Curator: Yasmin Afschar
Participant artists: Emma Kunz, Nora Aurrekoetxea Etxebarria, Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Dora Budor, Sirah Foighel Brutmann & Eitan Efrat, Athene Galiciadis, Florian Graf, Miriam Isasi Arce, Joachim Koester, Goshka Macuga, Diego Matxinbarrena, Shana Moulton, Rivane Neuenschwander, Mai-Thu Perret, Lea Porsager, Tabita Rezaire, Mathilde Rosier y Lauryn Youden.
Emma Kunz Cosmos A Visionary in Dialogue with Contemporary Art is an exhibition in collaboration with Aargauer Kunsthaus. The exhibition has been made possible thanks to the support of Emma Kunz Foundation, the Pro Helvetia Foundation and the The Embassy of Switzerland to Spain and Andorra, Boner Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur, Hans und Wilma Stutz Stiftung, Steinegg Stiftung, Goethe Institut, Danish Art Foundation and the Polish Institute in Madrid.
