Andreas Heusser
Andreas Heusser (born 1976) is a Swiss conceptual artist and curator, based in Zurich and Johannesburg.
![](../I/Andreas_Heusser.jpg.webp)
Education
After completing the intermediate diploma in Psychology (1999–2001), Andreas Heusser studied Philosophy and German Literature at the University of Zurich, closing with a master degree in both subjects (2003). Between 2011 and 2013 he attended the Bern University of Arts and completed another master degree in Contemporary Arts Practice (Fine Arts).[1]
Exploration of Nothing
Since 2013, Andreas Heusser has devoted himself to the exploration of nothing in art, philosophy and science. This has developed into the No Show Museum, a museum dedicated to nothing and its various manifestations throughout the history of art.[2] The museum's collection includes around 500 works and documents from over 150 international artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum also has a mobile presentation space in a converted postal car.[3] In 2015, the No Show Museum started a world tour with the mission to spread nothing: The first stage led from July to October 2015 through Europe, staging around 30 exhibitions in 20 different countries, before the museum was arriving in Italy and participating at the 56th Venice Art Biennale.[4] In the summer of 2016, the mobile museum was shipped from Europe to America: The 80-day exhibition tour led from New York to Canada, then to the West Coast of the U.S., and finally down to Baja California Sur, Mexico.[5] The third stage of the world tour took place from November 2017 to January 2018 and led from Mexico through the countries of Central America to Colombia.[6] The fourth stage led from October to November 2018 through Western Europe with exhibitions in France, Spain and Portugal, including a show the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon.[7]
Political Art Projects
As an artist, Andreas Heusser became first known for a series of satirical long-term projects that bridge the gap between art and activism, among them:
- War Development Aid (KEH, launched 2009 with Nüssli/Oeschger), was aimed to expose the hypocrisies on politicians who subordinate their Christian and humanitarian principles to the interests of the arms industry.[8]
- Organization to Solve the Foreigner Question (OLAF, launched 2010 with Nüssli/Oeschger), was conceived as a counterpropaganda to the xenophobic campaign of the Swiss right wing party (SVP) which demanded to expel all criminal foreigners. OLAF pretended to be a close ally and partner organization of the SVP, but it was so extreme in its claims that it became ridiculous.[9]
- Christian Humanitarian Asylum Self-Aid Organization Switzerland (CHASOS, 2011) was a satirical reaction on how media and politicians reinforced xenophobic prejudices by evoking the dystopia of gigantic waves of refugees after the Arab Spring.[10]
All three were fictional organizations which imitated and parodied real institutions. The projects mainly took place outside of art institutions, and involved counterfeiting websites, propaganda videos, press releases, social media, and other forms of dissemination.[11] Tactics like provocation, public interventions and hoaxes were used to create controversy and generate media coverage in dominant media outlets.[12] Despite the satiric content, the fake organizations and fictitious characters were often mistaken for real.[13]
Curatorial works
Literaturfestival Zürich
Andreas Heusser is the founder and director of the Literaturfestival Zürich (formerly: Openair Literatur Festival Zürich), an international literary festival which annually takes place for the duration of a week in Zurich, since 2013. The festival is jointly presented by Kaufleuten and Literaturhaus Zurich, in cooperation with other cultural institutions.[14] The festival has featured artists of international renown, such as John M. Coetzee, Junot Diaz, Julian Barnes, Roxane Gay, John Banville, John Cleese, Rebecca Solnit, David Mitchell (author), Carolin Emcke.[15]
The Institute
Andreas Heusser is a founding member and Co-Director of The Institute, a project space for performing and transdisciplinary arts in Zurich. Several artists collectives from different artistic fields (film, music, dance, literature, performance) are involved and contribute with weekly events and performances to the public programme of the venue which also includes research and workshops.[16]
Kaufleuten
Between 2011 and 2013, Andreas Heusser was the Program Director of the cultural venue "Kaufleuten" where he was responsible for the curation and implementation of around 200 cultural events per year, including concerts by international artists and bands, readings, podiums and cabaret events.[17]
Series and Festivals
In 2001, Andreas Heusser founded together with Marc Rychener the interdisciplinary artist collective index based in Zurich. With index he organized a number of concert series, performances and festivals (e.g. "Festival der Künste" 2002, "Lyrik am Fluss" 2002–2005). In 2005, he initiated the international Artist-in-Residence-program Freiraum-Stipendium which is open to artists from all disciplines.[18] In 2005, Andreas Heusser converted his artist studio at Elisabethenstrasse 14a into a cultural venue, where he staged 3–4 events per month until 2011, including a program cinema ("Kino im Atelier") and the concert and performance series "Mikro".[19]
Solo exhibitions
- Kunsthalle Bratislava, Slovak Union, 10/2019[20]
- Valie Export Center, Linz, Austria, 10/2019[21]
- La station – Gare des Mines / Garage MU in Paris, France, 11/2018[22]
- Espacio Naranjo in Madrid, Spain, 11/2018[23]
- Espacio Oculto in Madrid, Spain, 11/2018[24]
- Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon, Portugal, 11/2018[7]
- MUTUO Centro de Arte en Barcelona, Spain, 10/2018[25]
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogota, Colombia, 1/2018[26]
- Galería Antítesis, Panama City, Panama, 1/2018[27]
- Centro de Arte Despacio, San José, Costa Rica, 12/2017[28]
- Galería Códice, Managua, Nicaragua, 12/2017[29]
- Museo para la Identidad Nacional, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 12/2017[30]
- Museo de Arte de El Salvador (MARTE), San Salvador, El Salvador, 12/2017[31]
- Galería El Sótano, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 11/2017[32]
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO), Oaxaca, Mexico, 11/2017[33]
- Galería Ladrón, Mexico City, Mexico, 11/2017[34]
- Museum of Emptiness (MOE), St. Gallen, Switzerland, 9/2017[35]
- Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, California, USA, 10/2016[36]
- CULT | Aimee Friberg Exhibitions, San Francisco, California, USA, 10/2016[37]
- CCA Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, 10/2016[38]
- Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, Colorado, USA, 09/2016[39]
- Fort Gondo, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 09/2016 [40]
- Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 09/2016[41]
- Spread Arts Gallery, Detroit, Michigan, USA, 09/2016[42]
- Scrap Metal Gallery, Toronto, Canada, 09/2016[43]
- Enriched Bread Artists, Ottawa, Canada, 08/2016[44]
- Die Diele, Zürich, Switzerland, 08/2016-9/2016[45]
- Fresh Window Gallery, New York, USA, 08/2016[46]
- 56. Biennale di Venezia, Salon Suisse / Palazzo Trevisan and Lido, Venice, Italy, 10/2015[47]
- Lauba Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia, 10/2015[48]
- Chimera-Project Gallery, Budapest, Hungary, 10/2015[49]
- Umelka Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, 09/2015[50]
- Vienna Contemporary, International Art Fair, Vienna, Austria, 09/2015[51]
- #Poligon Art Space, Warsaw, Poland, 09/2015[52]
- Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia, 09/2015[53]
- Luda Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia, 09/2015[54]
- Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, 08/2015[55]
- Tenthaus, Project Space, Oslo, Norway, 08/2015[56]
- Sixtyeight, Project Space, Copenhagen, Danmark, 08/2015[57]
- Grimmuseum, Berlin, Germany, 08/2015[58]
- Island, Project Space, Hamburg, Germany, 08/2015[59]
- Wolfart Project Space, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 08/2015[60]
- Museum Strauhof, Zürich, Switzerland, 07/2015[61]
- The Institute, Zürich, Switzerland, 05/2015[62]
Group exhibitions
- City of Zurich Art Awards Exhibition, Helmhaus Zurich, 2019
- "Ours Is Not The Only Planet Earth Has Been", Ballroom Projects, Chicago, 10/2016[26]
- d.i.v.o. Institute, Kolin, Czech Republic, 09/2015[63]
- Survival K(n)it Festival 7, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga, Latvia, 09/2015[64]
- Kling-Festival, Mansbach, Germany, 08/2015[65]
- "Vitrine 05", Die Diele, Zürich, Switzerland, 12/2015[66]
- Kabinett der Visionäre, Chur, Switzerland, 06/2015[67]
- Doing Nothing Festival, Dock 18, Rote Fabrik, Zürich, Switzerland, 5/2015[68]
- "Vitrine 04", Die Diele, Zürich, Switzerland, 12/2014[69]
- "Vitrine 03", Die Diele, Zürich, Switzerland, 12/2013[70]
- "Show Me Show Me Show Me", CentrePasqArt, Biel, Switzerland, 6/2013[71]
- Swiss Art Awards, Art Basel, Switzerland, 6/2011[72]
- Werkpreis Kanton Zürich, F+F Schule, Zürich, Switzerland, 10/2011[73]
Awards and Grants
- 2019 City of Zurich Art Award for No Show Museum - From Dada to Nada[74]
- 2012 Award for Communication of Arts, Popkredit, City of Zurich
- 2011 Swiss Art Award, Nomination, National prize competition for Art
- 2011 Werkpreis Kanton Zürich, Nomination
- 2005 1. prize winner of fiction contest of Solothurner Literaturtage[75]
- 2002 Grant of Vontobel Foundation
See also
References
- cf. List of students, 2010/
- "No Show Museum", www.noshowmuseum.com
- "Das Nichts ist unser aller Horizont". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). 2015-05-27.
- Steiner, Juri; Zweifel, Stefan (2015-11-22). "Pro Helvetia's platform to present the Swiss contributions to the Venice Biennials". biennials.ch. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Brainard Carey (July 11, 2016). "Andreas Heusser". Interviews from Yale Radio (Podcast).
- Dargel, Beatrix (Jan 2018). "Nichts zu sehen!" (PDF). Kultur & Technik. Deutsches Museum (Hsg.).
- "Nothing matters – Icons of the void | MAAT". Maat.pt. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Waffen für Kids? Jetzt reichts!, Blick am Abend, 18 November 2009
- cf. "Sammeltag für Ausländer, Bundesplatz Bern". olafschweiz (2010-11-26), "Beissende Ironie: Wie Satiriker auf populistische Kampagnen reagieren". SF 1 (2010-12-01)
- "ARD Tagesthemen vom 15 June 2011 über CHASOS" ARD (2011-08-15)
- "Provokation verbreitet sich im Internet". www.kampagnenpraxis.de.
- "ARD-Tagesthemen über OLAF", ARD (2011-08-15).
- cf.:
- "Ausländer markieren, sammeln, ausschaffen". Tages-Anzeiger (2010-11-04)
- "Satire-Figur narrt Medien und Politiker". 20 Minuten (2010-11-16)
- "TV-Bericht über CHASOS an der ART BASEL". SWR Fernsehen (2011-08-15)
- "SVP weiss jetzt, wo der Schuh drückt". Blick (2010-11-09)"
- "In den Container – und weg". Der Bund (2010-11-08)
- Das Gesamtwerk Alois B. Stocher, KEH und OLAF. Philip Preding online, 2010-10-27
- "Aktuell - Openair Literatur Festival Zürich". literaturopenair.ch (in German). 2016-03-08. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2019-02-01.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- "Die besten Momente mit John Cleese". tagesanzeiger.ch (in German). 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Das Institut" (in German). 2016-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Puppen, Coci – Das Skandal-Interview mit dem Kaufleuten-Kulturchef". Kulturkanal11 (2011-04-24)
- "Freiraum". wort und wirkung (in German). 2016-03-17. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Vorgeschichte 2005 – 2013 - Das Institut". theinstitute.ch (in German). 2016-03-06. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2019-02-01.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- https://www.facebook.com/events/1681843128613661
- https://www.valieexportcenter.at/wtf-is-live-art-nixtasy
- "Rien n'a d'importance — Exposition du No Show Museum". Facebook.com. 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW MUSEUM". Espacio Naranjo (in Spanish). 2018-11-11. Archived from the original on 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Nada está presente - 16 NOV 2018". Evensi.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum en Mutuo | Todas las exposiciones y eventos de arte en Barcelona". Artssspot.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum". No Show Museum. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Nada De Cerith Wyn Evans // No Show Museum En Antítesis". Es-la.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - Costa Rica". My Art Guides. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum llega a Nicaragua - LVDS". Lavozdelsandinismo.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- @minhonduras (2017-12-04). "El Museo Para La Identidad Nacional, les informa que por motivos ajenos a nosotros, se cancela la gira de la exhibicion "Nada" de No Show Museum. De antemano agradecemos su apoyo a este y a todos nuestros eventos. #MinHonduras #UnEspacioParaTodos‌" (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-02-01 – via Twitter.
- Ana Laura B. Villalta. "Museo de la Nada en MARTE". Americanosfera. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Guatemela, elPeriodico de (2017-11-28). "El arte en la ausencia". elPeriodico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- juan manuel lupercio navarro. "El NO SHOW MUSEUM en el MACO - Crónica de Oaxaca". Cronicadeoaxaca.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW MUSEUM// ÂĄNo falta nada!". Ladrongaleria.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Agenda – Museum of Emptiness". Museumoe.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "The No Show Museum — MONTE VISTA PROJECTS". Montevistaprojects.com. 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW MUSEUM: Yves Klein, Maria Eichhorn, Daniel Knorr, Etc". Cultexhibitions.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum and Nothing Is Impossible". Ccasantafe.org. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Connecting People Through News". PressReader.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW Museum @ fort gondo : Cherokee Street – St. Louis, MO". Cherokeestreetnews.org. 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE | dfbrl8rdfbrl8r". Dfbrl8r.org. 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW Museum". Facebook.com. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Scrap Metal Gallery". Connorcrawford.com. 2016-09-01. Archived from the original on 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Opalski, Michal (2016-08-25). "No Show Museum, Zurich & South Africa 2016". Guyberube.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - Die Diele Art Vitrine Zurich". Diediele.format.com. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "freshwindow.org: Past Exhibitions". Freshwindow.art. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- https://biennials.ch/download/PagePartFiles/fmc_1884_fmc_0_salonsuissethree_yes%20and%20no.pdf
- Novak, Jakov. "Nothing opens in Lauba gallery tonight!". Just Zagreb. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- https://www.deutsches-museum.de/fileadmin/Content/010_DM/060_Verlag/060_KuT/2018/KT1-2018/Dargel.pdf
- "No Show Museum" (in Slovak). PartyMenu.eu. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - NOTHING IN VIENNA". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "The Art of Nothing / No Show Museum | Matosek Niezgoda". Matosekniezgoda.pl. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - Show In Absence Of Its Existence". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Nothing By Yves Klein / Ничто От Ива Кляйна". galleryluda.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - NOTHING IN HELSINKI". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "TENTHAUS - No Show Museum". Tenthaus.no. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "This saturday Sixty Eight is proudly... - SixtyEight Art Institute". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Dem Nichts Raum geben – das NO SHOW MUSEUM zu Besuch in Berlin". Art-in-berlin.de. 2015-08-14. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "NO SHOW MUSEUM visits WOLFART + dinner party". Facebook.com. 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Matesic, Philip (2018-12-04). "Wild Cards – Strauhof". Strauhof (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - THE GRAND OPENING". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No Show Museum - NOTHING IN KOLIN". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Programme | SURVIVAL K(N)IT 7". Survivalkit.lv. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Das No-Show-Room Museum auf Tour – kling 'pause'". kling 'pause' – 2018 (in German). 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "DIE DIELE ZEIGT "VITRINE 05"". Facebook.com. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Rückblick - Kabinett der Visionäre". Kabinettdervisionaere.jimdo.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Eirini Sourgiadaki | ZHdK". Zhdk.ch. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "VITRINE 04 "THE DEAL" - DIE DIELE ART VITRINE ZURICH". Diediele.format.com. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "VITRINE 03 - DIE DIELE ART VITRINE ZURICH". Diediele.format.com. 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Vergangene Veranstaltungen – Kunsthaus". Pasquart.ch. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "ARD Tagesthemen vom 15.6.2011 Ăźber CHASOS". YouTube. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "EXHIBITIONS - Swiss Conceptual Artist and Curator". Andreasheusser.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "City of Zurich Art Grants". CH-ZH: stadt-zuerich.ch. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
- "Andreas Heusser - Solothurner Literaturtage". CH-SO: Literatur.ch. Retrieved 2019-02-01.