Tobia Bezzola

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Tobia Bezzola (born February 11, 1961 in Bern , CH) is a Swiss art historian . From 2013 to the end of 2017 he was director of the Museum Folkwang in Essen and has been director of the Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana in Lugano since 2018 . At the Kunsthaus Zürich he became known as a curator of exhibitions on modern and contemporary art as well as photography and video . Bezzola is a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators.

education

Bezzola studied art history and philosophy at the Universities of Bern and Zurich with study visits to Paris and Rome. From 1990 he was a research assistant under Hermann Lübbe at the Philosophical Seminar of the University of Zurich and in 1992 he started with the topic “The rhetoric in Kant , Fichte and Hegel . A contribution to the history of philosophy of rhetoric ”.

In the same year he took up a position as assistant to the exhibition organizer Harald Szeemann , who has curated various exhibitions as a “permanent freelancer at the Kunsthaus Zürich ” since 1981 . From 1995 Bezzola was permanently employed at the Kunsthaus Zürich .

Kunsthaus Zurich

From 1995 to 2012, Bezzola was curator of over 30 exhibitions for the Kunsthaus Zürich and expanded the program to include often unconventional topics, for example in 2001/2002 with a large temporary exhibition on the reception of the Marquis des Sade in Surrealism . For the screening of Christian Marclay's 24-hour video work "The Clock" , the museum was temporarily open to visitors around the clock in 2011.

In 2001 Bezzola took over the management of the exhibitions department. Various crowd pullers followed, such as the great Picasso show in winter 2010/2011 and the graphic work by Edvard Munch , which was exhibited on the occasion of his 150th birthday in winter 2013/2014.

In the context of smaller exhibitions, Bezzola's projects and a. the relationship between sculpture and photography , for example in the exhibition "FotoSkulptur" in spring 2011, and in winter 2012/2013 he presented the largely unknown, graphic works of the French painter Paul Gauguin to a broad public for the first time .

At the end of 2012, Bezzola left the Kunsthaus Zürich .

Folkwang Museum

When Bezzola took over the management of the Folkwang Museum in Essen in January 2013 , it was in a financial as well as an identity crisis. While his predecessor, Hartwig Fischer , had rendered outstanding services to the large-scale new building, the development of a content profile for the museum had been neglected.

And after the opening of the new building in 2010, the year of the Capital of Culture, with two large temporary exhibitions "The Most Beautiful Museum in the World" and "The Impressionists in Paris", the budget was so strained that the newly built, large exhibition hall was empty most of the time. When Bezzola took office as director, none of the 2013 exhibitions had been funded.

New concept

In order to be able to optimally use the museum rooms in the future, Bezzola reduced the previous twelve smaller exhibition projects per year in the collection rooms of the Folkwang Museum and enabled three to four large temporary exhibitions instead of just one as before.

Since the sponsorship model of the Folkwang Museum stipulates that the patrons get their investment back from the income of the sponsored exhibition, Bezzola also made intensive efforts to find new donors in order to free themselves a bit from the influence of the patrons. It was now possible to show exhibitions on unusual topics that did not guarantee commercial success from the outset; so z. B. the group of works "Women" by Thomas Schütte in the winter of 2013/2014.

With the help of a number of smaller sponsors, he was able to launch the "Entry-Free Saturday" initiative, which since April 2015 has not allowed entry into the collection rooms on the third Saturday of each month, who each financed a Saturday.

In addition, he opened the museum's program, which had almost exclusively shown themes of classical modernism , for larger exhibitions on photography and contemporary art and tried to attract a younger audience with more events.

criticism

Just one year after moving to Essen , the Swiss came under fire with a planned Balthus exhibition that was supposed to illustrate the relationship between photography and painting. Balthasar Kłossowski de Rola - called Balthus - was no longer able to paint in old age and instead began to take photographs. In the planned exhibition should Polaroids be seen underage Anna Wahli that the artists age of eight model had been sitting. Since the girl in the photos was partially undressed and in ambiguous poses, the photos were denounced by Die Zeit as "documents of pedophile greed". The Folkwang Museum then consulted the youth welfare office and decided not to show the exhibition.

The cancellation sparked a pedophilia debate that extended far beyond the country's border. The " Liberation " accused the German authorities of censorship . The Südwestpresse headlined "Lasciviousness is in the eye of the beholder" and referred to the thousands of naked putti in baroque churches. Also Markus Heinzelmann , head of the museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen and Gerhard Finck , Director of the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, warned against established art censor ; the problem is not in the work, but with the recipient.

Record attendance in 2014

Bezzola's new profile for the Folkwang Museum was confirmed in the first year. In 2014 the number of visitors cracked the quarter of a million mark, making the museum its most successful year since it opened in 2010. With 250,273 admissions, the museum attracted a whole 42 percent more visitors than in the previous year. 81,927 guests came to the special exhibition “Parallel Opposites” about Karl Lagerfeld alone .

Only the Japonism exhibition Inspiration Japan was more successful with almost 100,000 visitors, which the Folkwang Museum sold to Bezzola's old employer, the Kunsthaus Zürich , where it was extended by two weeks due to the large number of visitors.

The fact that the approximately 4000 events in 2014 were increasingly used by younger visitors and school groups was reflected in a balance of 63,000 participants.

Free entry since June 2015

After the great success of the free Saturday - the first free Saturday was the most visited day of 2014 with 4,479 guests - Bezzola managed to win the Krupp Foundation for a donation of one million euros in June 2015 , with the immediate effect the permanent free entry to the collection rooms could be financed.

This decision caused a stir internationally. Most exhibition houses limit their free offer to certain days and age groups. So far, only a few British national museums such as B. Tate Modern introduced completely free entry. The Museum Folkwang is the first German museum of its size to permanently prohibit entry and is thus assuming a nationwide pioneering role in the museum landscape.

In June 2017 it was announced that he would be resigning from the management of the Folkwang Museum at the end of the year, as he would take over the management of the Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI) in Lugano from January 2018 .

Exhibitions (selection)

  • Alberto Giacometti . Museum of Modern Art, New York City, October 11, 2001 to January 8, 2002
  • Sade, Surreal - The Marquis de Sade and the Erotic Fantasy of Surrealism in text and image . Kunsthaus Zürich, from November 30, 2001 to March 3, 2002
  • Ferdinand Hodler . Landscapes. Kunsthaus Zurich, March 5 to June 6, 2004
  • André Breton . Dada dossier. Kunsthaus Zurich, December 9, 2005 to February 19, 2006
  • Edward Steichen : In high fashion. His years with Condé Nast 1923–1937. Jeu de Paume, Paris, October 9th to December 30th, 2007 ... Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Fall 2009
  • Franz Gertsch . Seasons - Works 1983 to 2011 . Kunsthaus Zurich, June 10 to September 18, 2011
  • Picasso . The first museum exhibition in 1932. Kunsthaus Zürich, October 15, 2010 to January 30, 2011
  • Thomas Struth , photographs 1978–2010. Kunsthaus Zurich, June 11 to September 12, 2010 ... Museu Serralves , Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto, October 14, 2011 - January 29, 2012
  • Noritoshi Hirakawa : Unión de ... . Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, June 2 to August 4, 2012

Book publications, exhibition catalogs (selection)

  • The rhetoric in Kant, Fichte and Hegel - a contribution to the history of philosophy of rhetoric . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1993 (Rhetoric Research Series, Vol. 5; Dissertation University of Zurich 1992)
  • Sade, surreal: the Marquis de Sade and the erotic fantasy of surrealism in text and images. HatjeCantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 2001, ISBN 3-7757-1065-5 .
  • André Breton: Dada dossier. , Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 2005, ISBN 3-7757-1731-5 .
  • Festival of color. The Merzbacher-Mayer Collection . (Together with Linda Schädler.) Dumont, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3832176837 .
  • Harald Szeemann - with by through because towards despite. catalog of all exhibitions 1957–2005. Ed. Voldemeer, Zurich / Springer, Vienna / New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-211-83632-3 .
  • Hot spots: Rio de Janeiro, Milano - Torino, Los Angeles, 1956 to 1969. Göttingen: Steidl, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-86521-905-3 .
  • Franz Gertsch - seasons: works 1983 to 2011. Kerber, Bielefeld / Leipzig / Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86678-520-5 .
  • Picasso: the first museum exhibition in 1932. Prestel, Munich / Berlin / London / New York 2010, ISBN 978-3-7913-5068-4 .
  • Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978–2010. Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-906574-60-8 .
  • Noritoshi Hirakawa: unión de ... interactional casa Barragán. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 978-3-7757-3432-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.ticinolive.ch/2017/06/14/tobia-bezzola-direttore-del-masi-essen-lugano/
  2. ↑ https://www.waz.de/staedte/essen/tobia-bezzola-verlaesst-vorhaben-das-museum-folkwang-id210914581.html
  3. ↑ Press release 713417 of the city of Essen
  4. ↑ Review Koller , trichter.de
  5. ↑ Sven Siedenberg: "Sade Surreal": The eroticism of evil. In: Spiegel Online . December 3, 2001, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  6. ↑ http://www.kunsthaus.ch/fileadmin/templates/kunsthaus/pdf/medienmitteilungen/2012/pm_marclay_d.pdf
  7. ↑ http://swissart.ch/en/swissart_news.php?article_id=150
  8. ↑ http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/kunst/Tobia-Bezzola-wird-Direktor-des-FolkwangMuseums/story/25688062
  9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunsthaus.ch
  10. ↑ http://www.kunsthaus.ch/fileadmin/templates/kunsthaus/pdf/medienmitteilungen/2013/pm_gauguin_verlaengerung_d.pdf
  11. ↑ http://www.kulturwest.de/architektur/detailseite/artikel/wir-muessen-weg-vom-vorrang-der-klassischen-moderne/
  12. ↑ Christiane Hoffmans: Kaiser and Bezzola: How two Swiss stir up the NRW museum scene. In: welt.de . February 24, 2013, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  13. ↑ http://www.monopol-magazin.de/wir-wollen-mehr-junge- Menschen
  14. ↑ http://www.museum-folkwang.de/tr/ausstellungen/archiv/thomas-schuette-frauen.html
  15. ↑ Free admission Saturday , Folkwang Museum website
  16. ↑ http://www.swp.de/ulm/nachrichten/kultur/Die-Luesternheit-gende-im-Auge-des-Betrachters;art4308,2475839
  17. ↑ Protection of minors or censorship , The West
  18. ↑ Press release 904773 of the city of Essen
  19. ↑ Quarter of a million visitors to the Folkwang Museum , Der Westen
  20. ↑ Press release on the Japonism exhibition 2015
  21. ↑ Free admission to Folkwang , Der Westen
  22. ↑ Free admission daily to Folkwang , Der Stern
  23. ↑ Free entry to the Folkwang Museum works immediately , Der Westen
  24. ↑ Bezzola leaves - Museum Folkwang is looking for a new director , Westfälische Nachrichten June 20, 2017, accessed on February 17, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Bezzola, Tobia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss art historian
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern