The first exhibition at the new Tichy Ocean Zurich, with the title «AFTER ANY GIVEN TIME» borrowed from Lawrence Weiner, honors Miroslav Tichý and Harald Szeemann in the form of a remake of the first international Tichý exhibition, which Szeemann curated in 2004 for the 1st Biennial of Contemporary Art “La Alegria de mis Sueños” (The Joy of My Dreams) in Seville.

At that time, Harald Szeemann selected 27 photographs from Miroslav Tichý’s extensive oeuvre to be exhibited in Seville. Of these 27 photographs, we were able to bring half back to Zurich and exhibit them. The missing photographs will be replaced by works that were on the shortlist at the time. In two showcases we display self-made cameras, lenses, the enlarger and other Tichý artifacts, similar to how Szeemann did in Sevilla seventeen years ago. The 52-minute film “Tarzan Retired,” commissioned by Szeemann to Roman Buxbaum, provides additional insight into the art and thinking of Miroslav Tichý.

Although Harald Szeemann never met Miroslav Tichý in person, his encounter with this photographic work was fateful. The Biennial “La Alegria de mis Sueños” was one of the last major Szeemann exhibitions and the first appearance of Miroslav Tichý’s work on the international art stage. The Sevilla Biennial was followed by retrospectives at the Kunsthaus Zürich, curated by Tobia Bezzola (15.07. – 18.09.2005), at the Museum für Moderne Kunst MMK in Frankfurt (08.03. – 03.08. 2008), at the 16th Biennale of Sydney: Revolutions – Forms That Turn, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (18.06. – 07.09.2008), at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (25.06. – 22.09.2008), and at the International Centre of Photography in New York, curated by Brian Wallis (29.01. – 09.05.2010). In 2005 Tichý even received the “Prix Découverte” of the renowned photography festival Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles.

For Roman Buxbaum, a long-time family friend of Tichý’s who had been maintaining a dialogue with him and documenting his work for 15 years at that time, this meteoric rise came as a surprise. He always respected Tichý’s ambivalences towards and fears of the public. The establishment of the Tichy Ocean Foundation in 2005 was also a way to protect Tichý, as well as to collect, preserve and present his work. Years before this turning point, Szeemann was a decisive influence for Roman Buxbaum. He changed his perception of Tichý and infected him with a fascination for so-called “outsider artists”.

The first exhibition in the new Tichy Ocean Zurich refers to this key moment, which turned Tichý’s work into a silent (Tichý) ocean, from which a collection of contemporary art emerged through pure bartering. The title of the exhibition “After Any Given Time” comes from the work by Lawrence Weiner, which he designed in 2010 for an exchange with and for Tichý. Thus, in the future, Tichy Ocean Zürich will repeatedly enable dives, excursions, and insights into the depths of this silent, artistic ocean.

Program:
SAT. 18.09. | 7:30pm
Performance MAXIBON by Forever Blue (San Keller & Tom Huber)

SUN. 19.09. | 11–12pm
Walkthrough Exhibition and Collection Tichy Ocean Zurich