William Kentridge: The Nose

The South African artist William Kentridge (b. 1955 in Johannesburg) is one of the most highly regarded artists of our time. Museum Haus Konstruktiv is presenting this exceptional artist’s first comprehensive solo exhibition to be held in Switzerland. Here, the focus is on the multimedia cycle of works entitled The Nose, which is based on the eponymous surreal short story written by Nikolai Gogol in 1836. In 2006, the Metropolitan Opera in New York commissioned William Kentridge to stage Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera of the same name (first performed in 1930 in Leningrad). In this context, a series of works were produced, which can be categorized as visual art, theater and film.

In addition to the large-scale video installation I am not me, the horse is not mine, which has previously been shown, for instance, at London’s Tate Modern in 2012, Museum Haus Konstruktiv is also exhibiting a number of little-known drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures and tapestries. Kentridge himself describes this work-complex as an elegy for the artistic language of the Russian constructivists and their stimuli for social transformation.

Event website