Heidi Bucher
Parasol Unit gallery, London, UK
19 September – 9 December 2018
A couple of weeks ago, the art berries visited the Parasol Unit in London and discovered the work of Heidi Bucher (1926–1993), a Swiss artist fascinated by the relationship between the body and architectural space. Remarkably, this is the first time her work has been shown in a public gallery, 25 years after her death.
I really enjoyed seeing the various pieces displayed across both floors of the gallery. This might sound like the usual praise we give to exhibitions, but we choose the shows we visit carefully, and Bucher’s work is a perfect example of art worth experiencing.
Heidi Bucher was born in Winterthur, Switzerland, and studied at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich. In the early 1970s, she collaborated with her husband, the sculptor Carl Bucher. Her early work focused primarily on the human body, and several of these pieces can be seen in film screenings documenting her practice. One notable work, Bodyshells, was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Art and Design) in New York City. The 8mm footage shows figures encased in large foam costumes, moving slowly across a beach in Los Angeles. The way they interact with the surroundings changes completely when dressed like this.
Yet the most striking works in the exhibition are Bucher’s large-scale latex “Skinnings,” as she called them. In her later work, she became increasingly interested in the body’s relationship to space. In the mid-1970s, she developed a unique technique: soaking gauze sheets in latex rubber and using them to cast room interiors, objects, clothing, and even the human body. A film projected in a small downstairs room captures the peeling-off process, which becomes a performance in itself due to the physical effort required and the symbolic resonance of the act.
These works leave a haunting imprint of architectural surfaces, and the peeling-off process feels like a liberation from past memories.
By contrast, the first-floor gallery presents works more concerned with impermanence and fragility. Bucher reflected on themes such as ephemerality, transformation, and metamorphosis. Among these are latex costume-objects like the dragonfly wings in Libellenkleid (1976), displayed alongside delicate dresses that seem capable of transforming the wearer. The water-related works on the terrace and ground floor echo this fascination with ephemerality, reinforcing the sense that nothing in her work is fixed.
Seeing her artistic process in the videos is especially rewarding. They reveal the multiple ways Bucher explored ideas that mattered most to her—all of which radiate an extraordinary aesthetic power.
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