Although Heidi Bucher's (1926-93) oeuvre remained mostly overlooked after her death, a recent revitalization around her idiosyncratic practice has opened the conversation on this pioneer in the feminist dialogue of the 1970s. Born in Switzerland, Bucher moved to California in the 1960s where she collaborated with her husband Carl on Bodyshells, a series of wearable sculptures exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1972. She returned to Switzerland in the mid-1970s and began her most iconic body of work, latex casts of objects and rooms. This volume includes a conversation with Christian Scheidemann on conserving contemporary materials; essays from the catalogue of the seminal 2004 Migros exhibition; memories from Beatrix Ruf and curator Bice Curiger; as well as a walk through the Swiss Institute exhibition with her sons and collaborators Mayo and Indigo.
Embracing the conceptual framework of an exhibition at Swiss Institute and its related public programs, each book in the SI Series adds retrospective context through seminal essays, archival materials, event transcripts, artist portfolios and exhibition documentation, as well as reprints and new translations of important texts. Each book in the series assumes a unique format to delve into the work of an artist, an artistic movement or a philosophical conundrum.