TIDY ROOMS.
SCULPTURES FROM THE COLLECTION WITH INTERVENTIONS BY DELPHINE COINDET, YVES METTLER AND RENÉ ZÄCH

The Kunstmuseum Thun presents sculptures from its own collection alongside works by Delphine Coindet (F, 1969), Yves Mettler (CH, 1976) and René Zäch (CH, 1946). The focus here is not on figurative portrait sculpture, but largely on abstract forms from the 1950s to the present day.
Sculpture is one of the most innovative genres in the visual arts of recent decades. Not only does it encompass an enormous range of materials and techniques, but it is also moving ever closer to art forms such as object art, installation and environment, as well as to design and architecture. Sculpture is no longer an ‘object on a plinth’, but instead engages with space and architecture in ways that are often unsettling. The boundaries of the genre of sculpture have become fluid. At the same time, assemblages and relief works are moving closer to sculpture.
Giro Annen’s sculpture *Aufgeräumtes Zimmer* (2006), which was acquired by the Kunstmuseum Thun in 2006, gave the exhibition its name. Annen’s oeuvre is characterised by a wide variety of styles and materials, making it emblematic of the exhibition. Minimalist works by Paul Le Grand stand alongside the biomorphic forms of Hans Gerber, the syntheses of stereometric bodies by Mariann Grunder, and the light objects of Ruedi Guggisberg. The broadening of the concept of the genre is ultimately particularly evident in the contemporary works, in which sculptural objects merge into installations and environments coalesce into objects.