The Imaginary Collection:
von Bartha X Hotel Helvetia
Hotel Helvetia, Zürich
September, 19 / 2019
6—10 PM

Von Bartha are pleased to announce the third edition of ‘The Imaginary Collection’ – an ongoing series of temporary exhibitions with works from the gallery’s archive, curated by independent collectors and presented within private spaces. The third edition sees artworks by four international artists displayed in four rooms of Hotel Helvetia, Zurich on 19 September: Imi Knoebel, Mike Meiré, Beat Zoderer, and Landon Metz. It is curated by the gallery and Swiss architect and collector Leopold Weinberg.

Originally launched in 2017, following the success of ‘Wunderkammer’ (an ongoing project with von Bartha and WAC Art Initiative showing a selection of artworks in the hotel’s reception), ‘The Imaginary Collection’ challenges the conventional exhibition model by replacing the classic white cube with the domestic environment. Grown from a pursuit for greater exhibition space outside of the demanding toll of art fairs and long in-house exhibitions, von Bartha not only exhibit important archived works, but also suggest new models for presenting and accessing artists.

Gallery owner Stefan von Bartha explained: ‘We’re very excited about the latest edition’s focus, which sees two of the four artists – Beat Zoderer and Mike Meiré – working as curators themselves. The programme continues to offer new ways for both us as a gallery and our collectors, to interact with our artists and archives. The exhibition falls during a busy week for the art fair circuit, but we feel ‘The Imaginary Collection’ presents an alternative offering to the weary traveller, in the comfort of a domestic setting.’