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You seldom see them so relaxed, the great artists represented by the American mega gallery owner Larry Gagosian.
But Urs Fischer, who was born in Switzerland and currently works in the east of Los Angeles, sits in the garden and chats without time limits and language barriers.
He designed the latest artist collection for the French luxury house Louis Vuitton, for which the brand has been known for decades.
And unlike many colleagues, he feels neither the urge to justify nor PR shackles, but uses the video call (with him in Southern California, as so often, the morning sun shines) to explain his way of working.
And to flash his rather irresistible humor.
ICONIST:
Good morning, Urs Fischer.
How did Louis Vuitton persuade you to work together?
Urs Fischer:
That wasn't necessary.
Two years ago I participated in a project in which six artists interpreted the same bag.
I thought it was cool with the people who work there.
Very talented.
And their technical knowledge impressed me.
This story started with scarves, a two-dimensional project.
From there it went on.
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ICONIST:
Contemporary art is often based on the fact that the concept is more important than the craft.
Fischer:
There are always opinions.
Works of art that I have in my home contain elements that I like to live and be with.
There are other things that stimulate me more intellectually.
Both are justified.
These are not football clubs where one has to emerge victorious.
ICONIST:
You will take a close look at who you do what with.
Why Louis Vuitton?
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Fischer:
I don't know.
I cannot explain the history of the brand to you.
But I remembered the collaboration between Takashi Murakami and Marc Jacobs, who was then creative director at Louis Vuitton.
That interested me.
There are other collaborations based on a long friendship, like the one between Raf Simons and Sterling Ruby.
ICONIST:
Now the artist Ruby designs his own collections, some say he is the better Raf Simons.
Fischer:
Well, I don't think Sterling could do what Raf did at Dior.
They are two different talents.
Vuitton did shows with Sol Lewitt many years ago.
This platform is bigger than a specific designer.
There is also room for a Virgil Abloh next to a Nicolas Ghesquière.
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ICONIST:
When Murakami had a big retrospective in New York, there was a room that was a handbag shop.
Not all art critics liked that.
Fischer:
In Japanese culture, it can easily mix.
These closed rooms do not exist there.
But Michelangelo also designed the uniforms of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican.
Where does the sacredness of the work of art actually come from?
ICONIST:
Tell me, you are the artist ...
Fischer:
I see this idea with astonishment.
The chastity of the work is a fantasy.
The monogram canvas, traditionally on bags and suitcases, drawn by hand by the artist.
Next to it one of his works
Source: Pierre-Ange Carlotti for Louis Vuitton
ICONIST:
The other aspect is uniqueness.
Art as the ultimate luxury.
Perhaps 10,000 or even 100 are produced from one handbag.
Your sculptures have an edition of 5 plus 1.
Fischer:
Usually only 2 plus 1. But the comparison does not lead to anything.
Sometimes I snack, sometimes I cook multi-course meals.
And I don't see the bags for Louis Vuitton as a work of art.
I am an artist who makes a handbag.
When I wash my pants, it's not a work of art.
The visual concepts are so quickly digested and ruminated.
Your work does not keep its integrity for long.
What gives me the most in art: Certain works open up a different understanding for me.
I'm not a huge David Hockney fan, but his pictures make me see details of the world differently.
ICONIST:
That's a big compliment for an artist you don't like.
What kind of tattoo is that on your neck?
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Fischer:
Oh, that might not have been the best thought out decision of my life.
But the question was what art can and what is there.
I've never had a relationship with Chagall, but the flying cow is buzzing around in my head.
ICONIST: A
flying change of subject: Was there a clear briefing from Louis Vuitton?
Fischer:
Nope, that developed organically.
In the beginning there were the scarves, the silk scarves.
At some point the bags were added.
The idea to change the logo came from me.
As a kid I never understood what those bags with the logo meant.
The owners have always been very proud of it.
In the Louis Vuitton universe, the logo is like the bones of an organism that hold everything together.
Murakami already changed it, and it appeared in completely different cultures.
In some cultures it is repainted by hand.
It's like folk art.
I drew the logos very crudely from my memory.
A primary mark of the monogram.
I've been thinking about cave painting for the past few years.
In fact, I believe this term is wrong.
The painting has only survived in the caves, but actually it was intended for rocks where everyone could see it.
Pure representation and punctuation.
We are not far from the dog's need for marking.
ICONIST:
Is this absolute, global
recognisability
, which a good logo provides, desirable for an artist or a death trap?
Fischer:
I think about that a lot.
Giorgio Morandi's focus is heartbreaking
(note: 20th century Italian artist who painted almost exclusively still lifes)
.
I would have always wished for such an identity.
Only: I don't care.
Of course, over the years there are densifications where elements of my work become clearer.
But I am a wanderer.
Too many things interest me.
ICONIST:
What are you currently interested in?
Fischer:
I've never worked with text.
Now I've started projecting sentences onto trees.
And I want to put together the densest collection of advertising films: for products, religion, politics.
I already have a few hundred thousand.
It will be a sculpture made of LED screens on which these fragments are shown algorithmically.
Sometimes like sleet, sometimes large, changing pictures.
In the Renaissance there were clear images with a clear program and format.
Visually there was no competition.
Everything was told from heaven to hell.
The visual worlds of advertising are only consumed incidentally.
You create a collective, baroque object.
Urs Fischer about his collection: "I don't see the bags for Louis Vuitton as a work of art. I am an artist who makes a handbag"
Source: Pierre-Ange Carlotti for Louis Vuitton
ICONIST:
With that crowd, you can't see all of the clips.
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Fischer:
I'm interested in the masses.
ICONIST:
Sounds like Batman's mega-screen, which listens to and monitors all communications from Gotham City.
You look into the brain of humanity.
Fischer:
Exactly.
As soon as you evaluate and curate, you form your own picture.
The choreography of movement is my design.
The other form is already there.
ICONIST:
The first exhibition I saw of yours was at the Gavin Brown Gallery in New York.
They had just dug the gallery floor.
How do you draw the line on handbags?
Fischer:
There doesn't have to be a line.
It was less there than it was before.
Originally I didn't want to show anything.
But nothing was not nothing enough.
And when we started taking the soil out, we just dug deeper.
It was an emotional gesture.
ICONIST:
Who bought the hole?
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Fischer:
The Brand Foundation
(note: American collection of contemporary art)
.
I installed it 2000-something there.
ICONIST:
Louis Vuitton is not just a brand, but also a
major player
in the art world, with the museum and the Bernard Arnault collection.
Could you have said no to the collaboration?
Fischer:
Sure.
But these structures are not new.
Patronage already existed among the Medici.
I'd rather go to Louis Vuitton than to the Pope.
ICONIST:
What are you wearing now from Louis Vuitton?
Fischer:
I have my own uniform.
Shoes that fit, pants that I like.
And then several of them.
ICONIST:
The mandatory question at the end: How has Corona changed life and work?
Fischer:
It reduces the joy, because sharing my work is important to me.
Everything is getting smaller.
My painter friends, who have no children, don't notice much change.
I have two.
Suddenly the environment disappears.
This is a huge change.
But you also learn from children.
A lot.
Urs Fischer, artist and collector:
When the Swiss-born Urs Fischer (47) simply had a huge hole dug in a New York gallery in 2008, critics celebrated this gesture as one of the exhibitions of the year. A little later he had a solo exhibition at the New Museum. His paintings and sculptures are subtle and brutal, funny and enigmatic. They hang and stand in numerous museums and private collections. Fischer lives and works with his family in Los Angeles.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: Welt am Sonntag
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