A silence that speaks volumes
Group exhibition at Hiflow
06.03.24-06.04.24

“There are exaggerated, irrational attitudes, repetitive, ritualized movements, feminine, neutral postures, reactions of survival, distrust, acts of violence, love… From a very early age, we are shaped by gestural codes that define what is considered ‘appropriate’ or not. These codes are implicitly transmitted through education, the media and society, and evolve with the times and customs.

The exhibition seeks to establish a dialogue between past and present, deconstructing the multiple facets of gestures considered as non-verbal expressions, reflecting our interaction with the world.

Some works question our postures and attitudes, often considered “natural”, prompting us to reflect on the fact that they are a social construct that may not always be comprehensible to all. Other works explore the idea that, in the light of history, in a domestic or public setting our actions can be used as a lever of domination and control over others. Still others speak of the impact that certain behaviors can have on a person, whether consciously or unconsciously. “

Article by Irène Languin in the “Tribune de Genève”

On the occasion of this exhibition, the serie “plates” joined the Plan-les-Ouates art fund.

Exhibition organized by the commune of Plan-les-Ouates
Curator: Amir El May

Au travers
Exhibition at the Abel Lauvray centre, showing an artwork by Paul Hutzli and a collective artwork made in collaboration with the public of the centre.
23.03.24-30.03.24

“Au travers” shows the artworks produced during Paul Hutzli’s artistic residency. He chose to work on the past of the building of the Abel Lauvray center, which had been a convent for centuries. His proposal deals with the fools festivals and carnivalesque practices that were celebrated in religious settings in the medieval ages. The exhibition showcases the artist’s personal work, as well as productions made by the public taking part in workshops at the Abel Lauvray center.

They made papier-mâché or fabric casts from plaster busts, whose serious, solemn male faces were transformed, repainted and resculpted, making it possible to create female faces too. The exhibition includes two collective works: one consists of a projection of photographs of the masks produced during the workshops on one of the busts used for their production – allowing us to appreciate the variety of the many creations – and the other of an installation of eleven masks displayed at varying heights, allowing us to see through them, and thus create a dialogue.

Paul Hutzli’s personal work consists of a diptych of “stained glass” designed for the windows of the Abel Lauvray center’s studio. There’s no glass or lead in this work, which consists of two ink-on-canvas paintings made using the process used by the craftsmen who produce the lanterns for the Basel carnival. By appropriating this technique, Hutzli makes a link between religious stained glass and carnival, referring to the conflict that animated ecclesiastical circles in the Middle Ages – Rome was outraged by the fools’ festivals, which reminded them too much of pagan rituals – and which enables him to speak of the tension between institutional order and festive disorder, which is at the heart of carnival. The stained-glass window, which evokes the religious institution, is thus reproduced respecting its codes, but as a pastiche, with a wry smile.