Gowen Contemporary, Geneva/Switzerland

Exhibition 20.05.2021 – 24.07.2021

Gowen Contemporary is thrilled to announce the first exhibition of legendary artist couple Annelies Štrba and Bernhard Schobinger. In the late 1970s, the couple collaborated on a joint project to present Bernhard Schobinger’s jewelry on the body through the use of powerful photographs. In the 1980s, Štrba created a series of photographs of their daughters Sonja and Linda wearing Schobinger’s jewelry. In a misty, intimate and languid atmosphere, the young women wear these jewels with grandeur. A book reproducing these photographs will appear in 1988 (Devon Karbon Perm, Grassi Museum), an important step for the couple of artists. Although the portraits were created by Štrba, they cannot be separated from Schobinger’s work.

The current exhibition brings together a few dozen pieces by the two artists. Starting from their first collaboration, the show follows the various stages of the individual work of Štrba and Schobinger, offering a brief overview of their respective long and rich careers as artists. The magic of Annelies Štrba’s photographs and Bernhard Schobinger’s jewelry transforms found images and materials into emblematic symbols and objects, thus linking everyday life to eternity.