Kerim Seiler
{{short description|Swiss artist and architect}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kerim Seiler
| image = 2013 KERIM SEILER ChrisSaunders SMALL.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1974|11|13}}
| birth_place = Bern, Switzerland
| death_date =
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| occupation = Artist
| years_active = 1999–present
| spouse =
| domestic_partner = Claire Dugan
| children =
| parents =
| website = [http://www.kerimseiler.com kerimseiler.com]
}}
Kerim Seiler (born November 13, 1974) is a Swiss artist.
Education
Seiler began his studies in 1991 by completing a pre-course for the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich. Between 1993 and '95 he completed the degree course "Média Mixtes" at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art Visuel Genève. From 1997 to 2002, under the tutelage of Prof. Bernhard Johannes Blume, he continued his education at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg. In 2011 he was awarded a Master of Advanced Studies degree in Architecture at ETH Zurich.
Career
Early work of Kerim Seiler is characterized by two-dimensional, life-size paintings of ordinary city objects, such as park benches and ticket machines.Renninger, S. V., [http://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=smh-002:2008:88::1032 "Kunst wie LSD: Der Künstler Kerim Seiler"], Schweizer Monatshefte, Nr. 11, 2008. He diversified into larger works, such as colorful and inflatable molecule sculptures, a 250-meter-long permanent neon light installation at Zürich's central train stationSchumann, S., [http://purple.fr/article/kerim-seiler/ "Frank Stella Saved my Life"], Purple, Spring/Summer 2014. and his vaguely habitable brick structure Gulliver in Pfungen (2009).Peters, T., & Peters, B., [http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118522478.html Inside Smartgeometry] (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2013), [https://books.google.com/books?id=TcwOBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22kerim%20seiler%22&pg=PT416 p. 9].{{rp|9}} Appearing to maintain a classical view of harmony,Wuhol, A., [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtipU24vbPE "Kerim Seiler answers 'What is harmonic?'"], YouTube, February 3, 2007. Seiler has said that space and structure are key elements in his work. Elsewhere it is written, "With the alphabet lettering paradigm in mind, Kerim Seiler has fashioned a non-alphabet system that revolves around a letter that cannot be deployed in words, its existence merely inferred by other letters. It may fluidly receive or reject ornament, be layered or cloaked, snap open and release, or serve as a crouching mechanism."Woodard, D., [http://www.grieder-contemporary.com/exhibitions/past/107-kerim-seiler-floccinaucinihilipilification/595-press-release "Floccinaucinihilipilification"], Grieder Contemporary, 2012.
Seiler's acclaimed 2014 habitable sculpture Relay (Situationist Space Program), exhibited at abc—art berlin contemporary,Anon., [http://www.monopol-magazin.de/10-dinge-die-man-auf-der-abc-nicht-verpassen-sollte "10 Dinge, die man auf der ABC nicht verpassen sollte"], Monopol, September 18, 2014. is a replica of his 2010 habitable sculpture of the same title on permanent display in Johannesburg,Dietzel, N., [http://www.afar.com/places/the-maboneng-precinct-johannesburg "Rooftop 'Camping' in Johannesburg"], Afar, September/October 2016. of which an earlier (2012) replica had been exhibited on the roof of Hotel Crystal in St. MoritzSt.Moritz Art Masters, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faWTzG3lsPY "Kerim Seiler"], YouTube, August 27, 2012. and at Grieder Contemporary in Zürich.Vrancken, J., [http://www.art-agenda.com/reviews/abc-art-berlin-contemporary-2/ "abc art berlin contemporary"], art agenda, September 19, 2014.Walde, G., [http://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article132440439/In-Berlin-lockt-die-ABC-Messe-mit-111-Galerien.html "In Berlin lockt die ABC-Messe mit 111 Galerien"], Berliner Morgenpost, September 20, 2014. Though his large-scale works often entail municipal (e.g., his 2014 building facade Iris in Schlieren, SwitzerlandSchanzer, S., [http://www.limmattalerzeitung.ch/limmattal/region-limmattal/farbspektakel-neben-dem-gleis-iris-von-schlieren-liess-die-huellen-fallen-127914914 "Farbspektakel neben dem Gleis: «Iris» von Schlieren liess die Hüllen fallen"], Limmattaler Zeitung, April 26, 2014.Heer, P., [http://www.imgrum.net/media/903690858626702563_1491598478 Iris office building in Schlieren], Imgur, 2014.Smith, A., [https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2018/08/29/swiss-architecture-instagram/ "Swiss photographer celebrates nation’s architectural gems"], Lonely Planet Travel News, August 29, 2018.) or ecclesiastical (e.g., his prominent 2015 neon sculpture DIMETHYLTRYPTAMIN at the Roman Catholic Diocese / erstwhile Prince-Bishopric of WürzburgPapay, C. J., [http://www.wuerzburgerleben.de/2015/05/26/was-sucht-das-illegale-halluzinogen-dimethyltryptamin-an-diesen-fenstern/ "Was sucht das illegale Halluzinogen DIMETHYLTRYPTAMIN an diesen Fenstern?"], Würzburg Erleben, May 26, 2015.) collaboration, they are sometimes executed covertly and/or via agricultural machinery.Huber, J., Stoellger, P., & Zumsteg, S., [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-211-70899-6 Ästhetik der Kritik oder Verdeckte Ermittlung] (Vienna: Springer, 2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=vZzBAAAAIAAJ&q=%22kerim+seiler%22 p. 103].{{rp|103}}
In 2016 Seiler created "a neon sign in the shape of bones",Williams, G., [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/t-magazine/food/berlin-restaurant-oh-panama.html "A New Restaurant for (and of) the Berlin Art Scene"], The New York Times, June 23, 2016. and, according to Urs Bühler, a neon installation entitled "Space Knot" proceeding along 300 linear meters beneath the Swiss National Museum ceiling, "like a ghost presiding over the museum, curved shapes giving an impression of Harald Naegeli spray cans transubstantiated into colorful illumination."Bühler, U., [http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/das-neue-landesmuseum/neues-restaurant-im-landesmuseum-zuerich-platz-fuer-das-spitz-ld.107359 "Platz für das Spitz"], Neue Zürcher Zeitung, July 25, 2016.
Seiler's comprehensive practice—installation, performance,Seiler, K., [https://vimeo.com/116572340 "AKTION #35: 'Space is my Canvas'"], Vimeo, August 29, 2014. sculpture, painting, drawing—has sought to dismantle boundaries between art, science and community.Williams, [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/t-magazine/essential-oils-tlist.html "The T List"], The New York Times, June 18, 2020.Anon., [http://www.thelocal.de/20140818/pop-up-garden-springs-up-in-berlin "Pop-up Garden Springs Up in Berlin"], The Local, August 18, 2014.Schiering, P., [http://salon-neucologne.de/collateral-neighbors/ "The Salon as a Space of Possibilities"], Salon Neucologne, May 2013.Anon., [http://www.kunstverein-siegen.de/2010/blickwechsel-mit-kerim-seiler-in-siegen/ "Blickwechsel mit Kerim Seiler in Siegen"], Kunstverein Siegen, September 2010. His energy and inventiveness, and consistently visceral, visually arresting work, have established him as a leading Swiss artist of his generation. His 3-volume compendium of writings, drawings and photographs Kerim in the Sky with Seiler was published in 2012 by Nieves.Seiler, [http://www.nieves.ch/catalogue/kerim.html Kerim in the Sky with Seiler] (Zürich: Nieves, 2012).
Seiler's work is exhibited worldwide, including in Moscow, Cairo, Zürich, New York City, Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles and Johannesburg. He is represented by Grieder Contemporary in Berlin and Zürich,Grieder Contemporary, [http://www.grieder-contemporary.com/artists/kerim-seiler Kerim Seiler], 2007-present. where he is also a key strategist in the rehabilitation of Cabaret Voltaire.Paunić, N., [http://www.widewalls.ch/cabaret-voltaire-zurich-seeking-13-million-dollars/ "Cabaret Voltaire Securing its Future"], Widewalls, February 2016. In 2016 Seiler produced two enormous public sculptures for the ceremonial opening of the world's longest and deepest traffic tunnel, the NEAT Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland.Pfeiffer, P., [https://www.mobiliar.ch/die-mobiliar/engagement/gottardo-2016/zwei-skulpturen-die-die-schweiz-bewegen "Zwei Skulpturen, die die Schweiz bewegen"], Die Mobiliar, June 2016.{{refn|Toward the northern end of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, in Rynächt (between Altdorf and Schattdorf), Seiler fashioned "a picnic area where travelers are invited to pause, look forward and backward, ponder." In the seminary town of Pollegio to the south, by contrast, is Seiler's "spectacular nine-meter tall pavilion, a vibrant platform for meetings, talks and live music." (Pfeiffer)|group=n}} In 2020 Seiler collaborated with Fuhrimann Hächler Architekten on a villa in Küsnacht.Raderschad, K.,
[https://bellevue.nzz.ch/design-wohnen/grieder-contemporary-so-wohnt-das-kuenstler-paar-in-kuesnacht-ld.1546044 "50er-Jahre-Villa in Küsnacht: So wohnt das Künstler-Paar der Galerie Grieder Contemporary"], NZZ Bellevue, March 28, 2020.
Notes
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References
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External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{SIKART|10235376|Seiler, Kerim|Autor=Eveline Suter}}
- {{Helveticat}}
- {{DNB portal|12295601X}}
- {{LCAuth|no2012123266}}
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