Blasted Allegories

Selected works from the Ringier Collection

One of the most important contemporary art collections in Switzerland, the Ringier Collection is presented here through the selection of more than 400 works of artists ranging from John Baldessari (from whom the title of this book has been borrowed), Richard Prince, and Fischli/Weiss, to Urs Fischer, Rodney Graham, Karen Kilimnik, and Trisha Donnelly. Organized as a visual essay rather than an exhaustive account of the last two decades, the publication attempts to map the contemporary art scene by following alternative as well as mainstream currents.

Edited by Beatrix Ruf, Director of Kunsthalle Zürich and Curator of the Collection, the book gathers together statements on different topics particularly relevant to understanding the present contexts of a scene whose main debates are often overshadowed by its globalized and market-driven aspects.

Including statements by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Marius Babias, John Baldessari, Paul Chan, Rosa de la Cruz, Harald Falckenberg, Liam Gillick, Victor Gisler, Sean Landers, Christian Philipp Mueller, Matt Mullican, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Friedrich Petzel, Richard Phillips, Richard Prince, Wilhelm Schürmann, Josh Smith, Sturtevant, Lawrence Weiner among others, and with a conversation between Beatrix Ruf, Michael Ringier and Gerhard Mack.