Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today
By Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila
Installation view of "Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today," Main Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Photo by At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
Installation view of "Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today," Main Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Photo by At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
May 23 –August 18
Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila
From 23 May to 18 August 2024, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, presents the exhibition Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today, a selection from the oeuvre of renowned Swiss artist Heidi Bucher (1926–1993).
The exhibition Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today comes to the Philippines as the third and last leg of Bucher’s Asian sojourn, after successful outings at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Korea, and the Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing, China. The show takes its title from a statement from Bucher: “We cover the rooms and listen. We look at the surface and coat it. We cover and reveal. What has been lived, what has passed, gets caught in the cloth and remains hanging. We slowly loosen the layers of rubber, the skin, and pull yesterday into today.”
Installation view of "Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today," Main Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Photo by At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
Bucher, a groundbreaking artist of the international neo-avant-garde, studied fashion and textiles at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts under Johannes Itten, a key member of the Bauhaus. Bucher’s practice developed to such an extent to encompass architecture, spatial installations, drawings, sculptures, and collaborative performances.
Installation view of "Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today," Main Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Photo by At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
The breadth of Bucher’s practice resists the categorization of artistic disciplines; she encourages the capacity of art to speak across disciplines and challenge our preconceived ideas of what we think when we think of art. She tested materials—textiles for architecture, architecture in the air, collages on silk, and sculptures as performances—seeking to bring nature into her art.
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HEIDI BUCHER’s Bodyshells and Bodywrappings activated as wearable sculpture. Photo by At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
Trained as a dressmaker, Bucher was fascinated by the interplay between art and fashion, as highlighted in her genderless body sculptures Bodyshells and Bodywrappings, which emerged in California in the early 1970s. These wearable body sculptures were reproduced for the exhibition by MCAD in collaboration with the Estate of Heidi Bucher. Bodyshells are activated every Wednesday and Saturday at 3pm at the museum, unless otherwise indicated.
The exhibition Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today is part of the Benilde Open Design + Art, a grants-giving project that supports design and art ideas towards their production, in celebration of the 35th year of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB).
Installation view of "Heidi Bucher: And Pull Yesterday into Today," Main Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Photo by Sheryl Cumpio for MCAD, Manila. Courtesy MCAD, Manila.
Free to the public, the museum is open Tuesdays–Saturdays, 10am–6pm, and Sundays, 10am–2pm, except holidays. Book your visit at https://www.mcadmanila.org.ph/visit.
* This post is brought to you by Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila.
