Interview: Günther Bächler
Luca Curci talks with Günther Bächler during VISIONS, third appointment of CANVAS INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2024, at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello in Venice.

The artwork of Günther Bächler, Switzerland, is a consequence of his dynamic life. His rich experience as a researcher, diplomat, and peace mediator finds its expression in all his paintings. In that sense, he is, as a fairly “old guy”, still a young painter. Already when he was an art student it became clear to him that he could not be an artist without going out to collect some “real life experience”. His artwork which deals with crucial challenges of humanity – such as armed conflict, despair, and the destruction of nature – would not have been possible without digging deep through humane hardship and environmental catastrophes. At the same time, his paintings mirror a sign of hope – be it through the choice of colours that seem to contradict the dark “sujet”, be it through the transformation of reality towards abstract visualisations of experienced situations; a kind of visualized storytelling about the eternal fight between darkness and light.

For the exhibition at VISIONS 2024, he has selected three paintings out of a series of five the title of which is: “There is a crack in everything…” He sometimes also titles the series: “dies irae”, expressing the anger and desperation about painful developments such as the Russian aggression against neighbouring Ukraine. The specific combination of dynamic brushstrokes with rough textures as well as of dark grounds with bright cracks or lightning symbolizes the ups and downs of emotions and feelings about nowadays world disorders. However, the crack, the crack in everything “that is how the light gets in.” (Leonard Cohen, Hymn). The three works with a size of 120 x 160 cm each are painted in oil on canvas, combined with mixed techniques and materials, such as pigments, marble powder, and acrylic glue. The stretchers are Boesner, Museo 45.

Luca Curci – What’s your background? What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?
Günther Bächler – The combination of my double education as a teacher in visual art in Basel and as a political scientist in Berlin definitely had a huge impact on my artwork. In fact, during thirty-five years or so I collected a lot of personal experience in the diplomatic world. Hence, I restarted my activities as a painter only about seven years ago. In fact, the very life experience transpires all my works.

LC – Which subject are you working on?
GB – Against the background of my active involvement in international peace diplomacy, I concentrate very much on subjects that reflect my thoughts and emotions about war and peace, about the destruction of our blue planet as well as about the consequences for the affected human beings.

LC – Is there an unrealised or unrealisable project, even a crazy one, that you would like to work on?
GB – When I was sitting in an aeroplane and watching our blue planet from a bird’s perspective, I was always brainstorming about a huge project: All artists together should wrap the earth in a gigantic piece of silk that is creatively designed by the worldwide collective of artists. Maybe people then would take care of “Mother Earth” as much as they care about precious artwork like the Mona Lisa.

LC – What are the three hashtags essential to define your poetics that you could not give up?
GB – The “condition humana” challenged by the “banality of the evil” and the ignorance of the rights of nature is always on my mind.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
GB – Every day things happen around the world that reactivates in one way or another my memory about personal experience – be it in Sudan, Nepal, Georgia or elsewhere. The variety of feelings around such  “burning issues” definitely become the energizer for my work.

LC – Your last artistic production attracted us, has the artwork presented been created for the exhibition or as a part of preexisting works?
GB – I started with a series of paintings in the spring of 2022, right after the aggressive war between Russia and Ukraine. The paintings show my anger, and desperation but also hope for the best for my Ukrainian friends. I called the series: “There is a crack in everything…” One may add the refrain of Leonard Cohen’s Hymn: “…that is how the light gets in.” I felt that three of those paintings would perfectly fit the exhibition at the Venice art fair.

LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the exhibition?
GB – Very much so. The theme chosen is very timely. ”Liquid rooms” and “future landscapes” promise to be very inspirational for both artists as well as the interested public.

LC – What do you think about ITSLIQUID Platform?
GB – Two things impressed me most: at times people very much focus on “exclusive identities” You dare to raise the issue of “hybrid identities” in specific contexts. Secondly, when I learnt that ITSLIQUID GROUP supports organizations like “Sea Shepherd” I was immediately convinced by the vision of your group.

LC – What do you think about the organization of our event?
GB – As far as I can see, a dedicated group of people does its utmost to attract an interested public. A public that eventually wants more than just to consume nice pictures.