When they say Zurich is a “nice” city, full of green and so perfect (and bla bla!) many people usually mean “boring”. No surprises. No adventure. Nothing out of the box.
I could not disagree more.
Indeed I believe it is in such places that the most interesting things (sometimes) take place…!
Ok – let’s get this straight: Zurich is no London. Nor Berlin. However, it has a special fascination that one discover very gradually, by living there, and that (sometimes) leaves you speechless.

And this is exactly the case with Thierry Furger’s current show “It Was All a Dream”… Which is happening… About now!

In a beautiful hidden upper-class estate, Thierry’s exhibition is steering a crowd of people from Zurich, Basel and many other Swiss Cantons for this very special and very temporary event.

As I read the address (Rämistrasse 44, ZH) I am a bit puzzled, cause I cannot recall any gallery there… What then? I arrive, unexpectedly invited (cause the event is just figuring on Thierry’s website and I think that’s really it!) I have that beautiful Alice-in-wonderland-feeling: follow the white rabbit … The black hole is there.

But instead of the black hole, the show takes place in a beautiful flat which will be renovated and that, for beautiful unknown reasons, will be a “temporary gallery” for the “It Was All a Dream” exhibition.

I sit with Thierry in a quiet corner to ask him some questions about what inspired him. Cause I really like this event and I am completely dazzled by it. I got to know about Thierry and its Art quite recently, so I ask him some of the usual questions. I discover that Mr. Furger was born and raised in Basel but moved to Zurich few years ago, where he lives with his wife and child and where he works as a freelance graphic designer.

Thierry explains me that his pictures represent a sort of beautiful chaos. Those abandoned places have some type of magic, which is inexplicably fascinating for him. This all started with him taking pics of these abandoned places around Milan and some other place in Ticino while he was scouting for virgin walls to use for his graffiti – he eventually made a booklet with a collection of circa 200 pics. When he showed Rémi (Jaccard, the curator of this show) the little book, he was immediately proposed to make an exhibition out it. And he accepted.

No fancy cameras were used for the shooting: just simple ones and iPhone, but this did not take any pathos out of the shots themselves. They are clean and straight to the core of the drama. They capture all the loneliness and desolation of buildings who have seen better times, lots of humanity and the drama of the abandon.

The solitude and dereliction of these places seem to be even more accentuated by the decadent beauty of the “gallery” … and the contrast is sublime!

I thank Thierry for his time and patience in giving me this little private tour. However, I have one last question: isn’t being a graffiti artist in Zurich bloody boring??

Indeed it is – he confesses almost regretfully. As Zurich is really a perfect city and not creative neither in the UK nor in the German sense of the word, cause every piece of Street Art gets erased after 24 hours.

Now I am satisfied and I can freely wander in the beautiful flat. Exactly like Alice in a Swiss Wonderland.

Thierry Furger “It Was All a Dream” | Curated by Dr. phil. Rémi Jaccard
Rämistrasse 44 |  Zurich
07.- 09. November 2014

For more info visit the official Thierry Furger’s website here.

The next solo exhibition of the Thierry Furger will take place in March 2015 at Kolly Gallery. For more info visit the gallery website here.

Interview and pic @Artemporary (Carmela Tfr)
All works displayed are taken with the kind authorization of the Artist 
All Rights Reserved @Thierry Furger