Farnsburg Group
The Farnsburg Group is an artist group that emerged out of protest . The Christmas exhibition, an old tradition in Basel that gave local artists the opportunity to exhibit once a year in the traditional and internationally renowned Kunsthalle Basel , sparked violent protests from a group of rejected artists in 1967. Others, like Walter Wegmüller and Werner Thaler, showed solidarity. Wegmüller removed his picture from the art gallery, Thaler painted over the Seine in black. Meanwhile, the argument escalated. Jörg Schulthess slapped the jury member Gustav Stettler in the Kunsthalle restaurant.
The Farnsburg Group in 1967
As a result, the rejected artists organized their own exhibition together with those who waived their presentation in the Kunsthalle out of solidarity - an actual comparison - in the then Farnsburg restaurant on Barfüsserplatz . The activities and the noise emanating from the Farnsburg group around the painters Jörg Schulthess, Kurt Fahrner , Walter Wegmüller, Bruno Schwartz, Corsin Fontana , Carlo Aloe, Werner Thaler, Joe Duvanel and Werner Ritter led to a wide-ranging debate in Basel . It was about the objectivity of the jury , which largely consisted of vocational school teachers, and about promoting young artists. Finally, parliament also dealt with the problems mentioned. The establishment of the Klingental exhibition space (1974) is one of the consequences of the discussion that was triggered at the political level.
Gustav Gallery
In an allusion to Gustav Stettler, the artist group opened the Gustav Gallery on Unteren Rebgasse at the beginning of 1968. For four months they staged their own works in juxtaposition with other positions. The group also announced a volunteer grant for young artists living in Basel and the surrounding area. Meret Oppenheim was a member of the jury . The competition also saw itself as an instructive pointer to the address of the art association. Three young artists, including Helmut Federle , received a contribution. After a second exhibition in the "Farnsburg" with a slightly modified line-up in early December 1968, the group never appeared again under this name. The artist group was only active for a little more than a year, the union in the group, in contrast to older Basel artist groups such as group 33 or circle 48 , was not stylistically motivated; the tense situation had brought the artists together. The combination of action art , experimental film and painting that Wegmüller, Fahrner, Schulthess, Fontana and Aloe tried out corresponds to the zeitgeist in terms of their willingness to experiment but also in their inconsistency, comparable to the situationists who were active at the same time .
Exhibition in 2007
In 2007, an exhibition entitled 1967 - a research took place in the Klingental exhibition space, which made the short but violent history of the Farnsburg Group comprehensible. With the help of original pictures, historical documents and newly created documentation it was possible to understand this time. Kurt Fahrner, Walter Wegmüller and Carlo Aloe made films. Due to their age, these were acutely endangered. In connection with the exhibition, they could be digitized and integrated into the exhibition as contemporary documents. Historical photos showed legendary art actions by Corsin Fontana, Jörg Schulthess, Kurt Fahrner and Walter Wegmüller. Jo Dunkel, an actor living in Basel, showed a performance on the subject of success as a clown in a box. Walter Derungs photographed the hall of the Farnsburg restaurant, the place where the legendary exhibition took place. Today it houses a McDonald's branch. The exhibition was curated by the art historian Noëlle Pia and the two artists Martin Heldstab and Markus Schwander.
Members
- Carlo Aloe (* 1939 in Neuchâtel ) is a Swiss painter, he has lived and worked in Basel since 1962
- Joseph Edward Duvanel (born February 21, 1941 in Pratteln ; † 1986) was a Swiss painter and pianist, he lived in Basel until his death
- Kurt Ernst Fahrner (born December 4, 1932 in Basel ; † 1977) was a Swiss painter and action artist, he lived in Basel until his death
- Corsin Fontana (* 1944 in Domat / Ems ) is a Swiss painter and sculptor, he lives and works in Basel
- Werner Ritter (born September 4, 1933 in Basel) is a Swiss painter, he lives and works in Basel
- Jörg Shimon Schuldhess (born June 4, 1941 in Basel; † 1992) was a Swiss painter, printmaker and action artist. He died in Basel after traveling to Israel, India and China
- Bruno Schwartz (* 1939 in Basel; † 2004) was a Swiss draftsman and printmaker, he lived in Basel until his death
- Werner Thaler (* 1941 in Basel) is a Swiss painter and sculptor, he lives and works in Basel
- Walter Wegmüller (* 1937 in Zurich ; † 2020 in Bern ) was a Swiss painter and draftsman, he lived and worked in Basel since 1957