In his impressive analysis Stefan Banz examines how Jeff Wall uses camera, computer, actors, and specialists to generate a visual event that provokes epistemological questions in the viewer; illustrates how the artist—beyond avant-garde criteria—develops a sophisticated and engaging imagery that deals not only with the everyday but also with the history of art; and meticulously explores how Wall reflects the role of the recipient in his compositions.
In this sense, Banz shows with the eyes of an active observer how art for Wall has an inexhaustible metaphorical power that both enriches and upsets our visual concepts. And he also creates new, startling references between Wall's photographic works and paintings by such different artists as
Diego Velázquez, Jan Vermeer, Claude Monet, Frederic Remington, Hans Emmenegger,
Marcel Duchamp, and
Salvador Dalí.
Stefan Banz (born in Sursee, lives and works in Switzerland) is an artist and author. In 1989 he cofounded the Kunsthalle Luzern and served as its artistic director until 1993; since then he has been working as a freelance artist, participating in solo and group exhibitions in international galleries and museums. From July 1994 to December 1997 he was the artistic consultant and curator of Galerie Hauser & Wirth. In 2000 he received the Manor Art Prize, and the Recognition Award from the City of Lucerne. From 2004 to 2014 he collaborated artistically with
Caroline Bachmann. In 2005 he was the curator for the Swiss Pavilion at the 51st Biennale in Venice. In 2009 he cofounded the association
, and in 2010 he co-organized the event “Marcel Duchamp and the Forestay Waterfall” in Cully, Switzerland, both with Caroline Bachmann. Since then he has been the artistic director of the KMD.
