For a more    
                detailed essay
                about Swiss
                Photography,
                click here.

                   
 

In Switzerland, as in much of the world today, art is increasingly photographic. Abandoning the notion of the artwork as a self-contained, autonomous object, many contemporary artists use photography to document and comment on life around them. New technologies—including digitization and speedier methods of enlargement, editing, and reproduction—have helped break down the division between a straight documentary approach and staged or manipulated art photography, widening the medium's potential for invention.

Contemporary Swiss photography reflects this international state of affairs while also responding to its own particular history. Not Neutral presents nine artists whose work exemplifies the diverse approaches to photo-based art in Switzerland today. Running through much of their imagery is a de-mythologizing current that addresses both the country's recent past and its current social situation. Some of the artists focus on ephemeral and marginal aspects of everyday life; others call attention to fashion advertising's commodifications of the self. Many embrace a new existentialism, questioning conventional notions about reality and the ability of science to define it. All reject stereotypical views of Switzerland and challenge the traditional ideal of distanced neutrality.

Curated by Urs Stahel, Not Neutral: Contemporary Swiss Photography is organized by the Grey Art Gallery at New York University in conjunction with the Fotomuseum Winterthur, and is part of swisspeaksFESTIVAL (www.swisspeaks.org). The Grey Art Gallery presentation is made possible in part by the Pro Helvetia Arts Council of Switzerland and the Abby Weed Grey Trust .