Martin Kunz (2008)

Martin Kunz (6 October, 1947 – 25 October 2021) was a Swiss curator and art historian.

Personal life

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Martin Kunz was born in Basel in 1947. From 1967 to 1972 he studied art history, archaeology and philosophy in Basel, where he graduated with a thesis on Marcel Duchamp. He then carried out research on British industrial architecture at the Courtauld Institute in London.[1]

Curatorial career

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In 1977, at the age of 30, Kunz was appointed director of the Kunstmuseum Luzern. In the 1980s, he combined his role as director with an intense activity as an independent curator, including for the Venice Biennale, where he co-curated the 1980 edition in collaboration with Michael Compton, Harald Szeemann e Achille Bonito Oliva[2]. After completing his tenure at the Kunstmuseum Luzern, he moved to New York, where he founded the New York Kunsthalle[3]. In the early 2000s, he returned to Switzerland, where he directed the Municipal Museum of Ascona and founded K10, an independent offspace that also became his personal archive. He died in October 2021 at the age of 74 after a long illness[4].

Archive and library

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Throughout his life, Kunz collected all documentation related to his work and life. In 2022, the Library of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture acquired the curator’s archive and library.

Major exhibitions

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  • 1979 - Joseph Beuys : Spuren in Italien, Kunstmuseum Luzern
  • 1980 - L’arte negli anni Settanta, XXXIX Esposizione internazionale d'arte della Biennale di Venezia
  • 1981 - Schweizer Kunst '70-'80: Regionalismus/Internationalismus, Bilanz einer neuen Haltung in der Schweizer Kunst der 70er Jahre am Beispiel von 30 Künstlern, Kunstmuseum Luzern
  • 1981 - ARTE SVIZZERA ' 70/' 80, MAMBO, Bologna
  • 1987/1988 - Edinburgh International - reason and emotion in contemporary art, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
  • 1991 - Suspended, light: Alexander Fischer & Juan Uslé, Swiss Institute, New York
  • 1993 - Felix Droese : Vanishing Images, New York Kunsthalle

Publications

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  • “Conversione dell’azione fisica in intensità psichica dell’immagine (nella pittura, nel disegno, o nell’ambiente)” in La Biennale di Venezia settore Arti Visive : catalogo generale 1980, Venezia, Edizioni La Biennale di Venezia, 1980
  • Arte Svizzera ’70-’80: Regionalismo/internazionalismo. Bilancio di un nuovo atteggiamento dell’arte svizzera degli anni Settanta, Lucerna, Kunstmuseum, 1981
  • Giulio Paolini, Hortus Clausus: 29.3.-3.5.1981, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerna, Kunstmuseum, 1981
  • Schweizer Kunst '70-'80 : Regionalismus/Internationalismus, Bilanz einer neuen Haltung in der Schweizer Kunst der 70er Jahre am Beispiel von 30 Künstlern, Lucerna, Kunstmuseum, 1982
  • Suspended, light: Alexander Fischer & Juan Uslé, Swiss Institute, New York, New York, Swiss Institute, 1991

References

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