Nirvana. Strange Forms of Pleasure

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Nirvana. Strange Forms of Pleas­ure is Switzer­land’s first inter­na­tional-level exhib­i­tion to be devoted to forms of pleas­ure in contem­por­ary creation, explor­ing design as well as fash­ion and contem­por­ary art, and the first compre-hens­ive study of the influ­ence of erot­ica on design and fash­ion, by turns bold, luxuri­ous and myster­i­ous.

The exhib­i­tion features a selec­tion of contem­por­ary design­ers who draw on the icon­o­graphy of pleas­ure in their creat­ive work, find­ing inspir­a­tion in erotic and fetish­ist liter­at­ure, along with the images, objects and cloth­ing to which they frequently refer. The exhib­i­tion invites us to exam­ine our own ideas and percep­tions of pleas­ure. Design­ers cover the body with close-fitting garments or sensual mater­i­als, adorn­ing them with jewellery that is aesthet­ic­ally as well as erot­ic­ally pleas­ing, creat­ing furniture with evoc­at­ive forms, works of art in which beauty and perfec­tion are spiced with the whiff of brim­stone. Nirvana shows that soci­ety’s desire for sensual pleas­ure remains vigor­ous in our digital age.

The exhib­i­tion focuses on design, fash­ion, and also contem­por­ary art, which helps to open our eyes: its aim is to exam­ine our rela­tion­ship with the forms and objects that give phys­ical expres­sion to our uncon­scious percep­tions of sexu­al­ity and our private notions of pleas­ure. Celeb­rated and up-and-coming design­ers alike bring these multiple influ­ences into the spot­light, placing in the public sphere what has hitherto remained private. Three major creat­ors are given carte blanche within the exhib­i­tion: Mark Woods (designer), Betony Vernon (jewellery designer) and Nika Zupanc (designer).

Design­ers, artists and creat­ors: Abdi Abdelkader, Milena Altini, Nobuy­oshi Araki, Bina Baitel, David Baskin, Yves Béhar, François Berthoud, Barbara Bloom, Antoine Boudin, Pierre Charpin, Petros Chrisostomou, Matteo Cibic, Matali Crasset, Charlie David­son, Marc Dibeh, Patrycja Domanska, Édi­tions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, Anika Engel­brecht, Matthew Epler, État Libre d’Or­ange, Naomi Filmer, Sylvie Fleury, Björn Franke, Rachel Freire, Marie Garnier, Chris­tian Ghion, Givenchy, Heeley, Roberto Greco, Julian Hakes, Zaha Hadid, Sophie Hanagarth, Jaime Hayon, Dejana Kabiljo, Cary Kwok, Masaya Kushino, Ugo La Pietra, Jacques Le Corre, Lubin, Charlie le Mindu, Gian­marco Lorenzi, Sarah Lucas, Maison Martin Margiela, Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, Luc Matten­ber­ger, Gabriel Moginot, Eelko Moorer, Naso­matto, Mark Newson, Magdalene Odundo, Erwin Olaf, Oriza L. Legrand, Parfum d’Em­pire, Parfumerie Générale, Kate Peters, Karim Rashid, Mustafa Sabbagh, Olivier Schawalder, Markus Schin­wald, Ettore Sott­sass, Studio Job, Jean-Baptiste Sibertin Blanc, Caro Suerkem­per, Gian­luca Tamburini, Nori­taka Tate­hana, Mario Test­ino, Matteo Thun, Morgane Tschiem­ber, Walter Van Beiren­donck, Atelier Van Lieshout, Lucas Van Vugt, Nick Veasey, Olivier Védrine, Jean-Luc Verna, Betony Vernon, Vero Profumo, Rein Vollenga, Mark Woods, Jeff Zimmer­mann, Nika Zupanc