Peter Wüthrich. Three Books and Literary Pharmacy

Peter Wüthrich’s work evolves around the solid, but precarious fabric
“book”, which he uses for construction, colour, picture and lettering; like no other contemporary artist, Wüthrich has been working on the metamorphoses of the book with obsession and ease since the 1990’s. Following and developing his poetic of the “book”, his investigation may easily serve as additional reflection to the changes and questions in today’s media. THREE BOOKS & LITERARY PHARMACY highlights the artist’s long-standing investigation into books, liberated from their original function and transformed into infinite metaphors for the world. This recurring theme has remained at the core of Wüthrich’s practice throughout a career spanning more than three decades. The exhibition presents Literary Pharmacy, a cabinet of curiosities in the form of a medical dispensary. Countless medicine bottles, carefully arranged within a glass case, bear labels made from book pages that evoke celebrated authors and iconic literary titles, suggesting literature itself as a remedy for the ailments of contemporary life.
Also on view are works from the Three Books series: minimalist compositions created from the monochrome covers of three books, transformed into refined pictorial surfaces. The exhibition further includes Lollipop, assembled from found, multicoloured book covers, and Literary House, both exemplary works in which books are dissociated from their conventional purpose and reimagined as poetic and universal metaphors.