Rockies documentary features Oliver artwork

Flyer Documentary, 2013, 3

The artwork of Oliver painter – and Swiss native —  Kurt Hutterli will be featured on the cover of a new DVD release, “Swiss Guides in the Canadian Rockies: Beyond Adventure”, a documentary produced by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver as part of the Swiss 100 Canada project. This year, Swiss 100 Canada celebrates 100 years of official relations between Switzerland and Western Canada.  The documentary, directed by  Josias Tschanz,  features interviews with mountaineering experts against a backdrop of stunning Canadian alpine scenery as they reflect on the impact Swiss mountaineers had on opening up the backcountry of the Canadian Rockies.

Swiss alpine guides had accompanied English mountaineers in the Rockies during the 1800s, but it wasn’t until a fatal climbing accident on Mount Lefroy in 1896 that the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) hotels hired Swiss guides to work for the mountain parks. Between 1899 and 1954 Swiss alpinists led hundreds of first ascents and taught safe climbing techniques to thousands of climbers. They also laid some of the most beautiful mountain trails, most notably the stone pathways in the Lake O’Hara region of Yoho National Park. Arguably, their skills training, and enthusiasm, helped to create the current cultural appreciation of the Canadian Rockies, together with a desire to preserve this remarkable landscape.

Kurt Hutterli

Kurt Hutterli (pictured at left) explains how he was personally contacted to help with this Swiss 100 Canada project:

“A while ago I got a phone call from the Consul General of Switzerland in Vancouver, Urs Strausak. He told me about the projects planned for the Centennial Celebrations of the diplomatic relations between Switzerland and British  Columbia. One of the projects was a documentary about the Swiss guides in the Canadian Rockies by director Josias Tschanz (Counting Ants Productions) and produced by the Swiss government through the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver. Urs Strausak asked me for ideas for the cover of the DVD. I sent him a copy of my RipOff Artists painting from 2010. All the people involved in the production of the movie liked it and it was decided to use the painting also for the flyers and the posters.”

Feuz on Saddleback Mt

Hutterli’s painting (above at top) was originally created as part of the 2010 challenge by Oliver’s RipOff Artists to recreate the iconic work by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris, “Mount Lefroy”. Kurt’s contribution to the multimedia event was a whimisical interpretation that blended two famous works: Harris’ Mount Lefroy painting (below), and a black and white photograph of Swiss alpinist Eduard Feuz Jr  guiding an unidentified visitor up Saddleback Mountain in the Lake Louise region near Mount Lefroy (at left).

Lawren-Harris-Mount-Lefroy-500x500

Hutterli’s work often blends reality and fantasy. True to form, Kurt let his
imagination run wild in naming the “unidentified visitor” clutching Feuz’s hand in the photograph. He titled his piece “Ed Feuz Jr Guiding Emily Carr at Mount Lefroy”, giving a teasing doff of the cap to another BC artist! Hutterli delights in blurring the lines between legend and history in his art, whether working in oils or three-dimensional installations. Hutterli further describes this particular piece as “a contribution to BC mythology”.

The trailer for “Swiss Guides in the Canadian Rockies: Beyond Adventure” can be viewed here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ndBrrgCmw

More about Swiss100Canada is here: www.Swiss100Canada.com 

The premiere screening of the documentary is on Sunday June 23 at 5:30 at the Banff Centre, Margaret Greenham Theatre. No word yet on the release of the DVD to the public, but Kurt will keep you posted!

Friday June 21: Due to the heavy rain and flooding, and out of respect for those affected in Southern Alberta, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver has cancelled the Premiere Screening that was to be held in Banff this Sunday, June 23rd, 2013. The documentary Swiss Guides in the Canadian Rockies – Beyond Adventure will be screened at a later to be determined date.

Logo CH-CA-LikeMinded_RBW

Hutterli’s play combines history and fantasy

Local artist Kurt Hutterli (pictured far left) recently attended the premiere of his play Centovalli-Centoricordi (One Hundred Valleys, One Hundred Memories) in Switzerland. The play is performed in walkabout incorporating both indoor and outdoor locations, live musical performances, and even a train ride! Below, Kurt outlines the plot of this fanciful production, and shares some photos. 

Centovalli-Centoricordi  is inspired by local history and stories of the Swiss “Hundred Valleys” near the Italian border.

In 1853 a young man leaves his fiancée to emigrate to California, where he joins a family from the Centovalli which became a pioneer of the California wineindustry. He soon forgets his Sofia and marries the owner of a dancing school and an ice cream parlor.

In 1874 a well known photographer takes pictures of the poor little boys who are forced to sweep the narrow chimneys in northern Italy by their brutal bosses. He hopes to make a strong statement against child labour forbidden by law in Ticino in 1873.

Other storylines include:

Four witches who live in the Centovalli mountains stop the train and try to change it into a flying vehicle.  A priest visit the village where he was born in 1722. Then he returns to Venice where he lives as a controversial poet.

A young woman falls in love with a smuggler and sends a customs officer chasing her sweetheart into the wrong direction. She has to defend herself against a “famous” robber before being able to marry her beloved smuggler who in the meantime became a custom officer himself.

And there is Discobal (performed by the famous clown, Dimitri), a warrior from Carthage who for 2000 years has been in search of his beloved warrior elephant, whom he had lost, when Hannibal led his army over the Alps. (Clown Dimitri was performing with elephant Sandry for the Swiss National Circus Knie a few years ago.)

Bravo Kurt!

Photo Credit:  Ronny Winkler

Hutterli's play combines history and fantasy

Local artist Kurt Hutterli (pictured far left) recently attended the premiere of his play Centovalli-Centoricordi (One Hundred Valleys, One Hundred Memories) in Switzerland. The play is performed in walkabout incorporating both indoor and outdoor locations, live musical performances, and even a train ride! Below, Kurt outlines the plot of this fanciful production, and shares some photos. 

Centovalli-Centoricordi  is inspired by local history and stories of the Swiss “Hundred Valleys” near the Italian border.

In 1853 a young man leaves his fiancée to emigrate to California, where he joins a family from the Centovalli which became a pioneer of the California wineindustry. He soon forgets his Sofia and marries the owner of a dancing school and an ice cream parlor.

In 1874 a well known photographer takes pictures of the poor little boys who are forced to sweep the narrow chimneys in northern Italy by their brutal bosses. He hopes to make a strong statement against child labour forbidden by law in Ticino in 1873.

Other storylines include:

Four witches who live in the Centovalli mountains stop the train and try to change it into a flying vehicle.  A priest visit the village where he was born in 1722. Then he returns to Venice where he lives as a controversial poet.

A young woman falls in love with a smuggler and sends a customs officer chasing her sweetheart into the wrong direction. She has to defend herself against a “famous” robber before being able to marry her beloved smuggler who in the meantime became a custom officer himself.

And there is Discobal (performed by the famous clown, Dimitri), a warrior from Carthage who for 2000 years has been in search of his beloved warrior elephant, whom he had lost, when Hannibal led his army over the Alps. (Clown Dimitri was performing with elephant Sandry for the Swiss National Circus Knie a few years ago.)

Bravo Kurt!

Photo Credit:  Ronny Winkler

Hutterli imagines life as a Swiss elf

Oliver artist Kurt Hutterli is exhibiting an enchanting collection of his “found object” creations in a museum in Bosco Gurin, Switzerland this summer. The exhibit is called “The World of the Weltu”, the Weltu being a race of wood elves popular in the folklore  of this canton near the Italian border.

The   Walserhaus  Museum is purposely blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy by placing Kurt’s whimsical creations alongside historical objects. Kurt’s “found object” artwork uses vintage tools and natural items to create the superficial appearance of historical artefacts. Sometimes only a closer examination (or reading Kurt’s title for each piece) reveals the object is more fantastical than real!

In this exhibit, Kurt proposes these artefacts once belonged to the Weltu (elves) , for magical purposes one can only guess at. See if you can match thre titles to the art displayed here:  a birdcage to hold a magical egg, a boat to bring you pleasant dreams, a place to grow crystals, a story catcher, a moolight collector.

From the museum`s website:

The exhibition is inspired by the world of the Bosco Gurin legends. Each object finds the ideal location between the objects of everyday use that tell the traditional life of the past. This reminds us of how labile the borderline between reality and fantasy — between the apprehensible and the elusive — really is. It constituted the bridge between generations: during centuries, the tales and legends were passed down orally from generation to generation.

 

Because the use of many historical objects is no longer known, it is not easy to distinguish them from Kurt Hutterli’s creations.

A visit to the museum during the period of this very special exhibition is worthwhile and offers not only the possibility to experience ethnography, but also to plunge into the past in a magically pleasant way.

And Kurt says:

Since my childhood I feel very much linked to the Ticino canton thanks to my grandparents who in 1946 bought a house in Centovalli where they used to spend the period between spring and autumn. Even after my wife and I emigrated to Canada in 1996, we maintained a deep connectedness with Ticino.

 

In 2003 I started to [work on]an installation project entitled ‘The Museum of Unknown Civilizations’. When I visited the Museum Walserhaus in 2006, my friend and former curator asked me whether I could be inspired to enlarge my MUC collection [for inclusion in the Bosco Gurin exhibit]…. I started to work for this special ‘Bosco Gurin Collection’, also taking inspiration from Emily Gerstner-Hirzel’s book ‘Aus der Volksüberlieferung von Bosco Gurin’, and created the little archaic, mysterious, poetical, funny and sometimes weird objects.

 

 

For more stories and photos: http://dieweltderweltu.ch/?lang=en

Kurt Hutterli has a REvision

Oliver’s Kurt Hutterli, a 3-D artist specializing in found objects or recycled art, has had three pieces accepted into a juried art show titled “ReVision: The Art of Recycling” at Granville Island’s Creekhouse Gallery in Vancouver this July 8 – 17.

Hutterli is well-known among local artists for his whimsical works, whether as a solo artist or as a member of the collective RipOff Artists, who have their own studio demonstration and exhibit in Oliver this July.  Kurt recrafts rusted metal scraps, broken tools, and appliance parts into mythical archaeological artefacts. His designs are often deceptively simple, leaving much room for interpretation.  Using a question mark after many of his artwork titles, Hutterli invites viewers to decide for themselves what purpose a mysterious “artefact” once served.

At left is “Royal Insignia?”. Below is “A Twin Soul Catcher?”. At the bottom is “A Cosmic Sensor?” All three are entered into the Granville Island exhibit, competition, and sale.

Revision – the Art of Recycling held its first show in October 2007 to celebrate Canada-wide Waste Reduction Week and to provide a showcase for artists using recycled materials as a major component of their work. The Society continues to dedicate itself to advancing public awareness in issues of sustainability by featuring art of high quality by artists who embrace recycling in their creative process.

Revision at Creekhouse is a 10 day juried exhibit, sale, and festival featuring art made from recycled, salvaged, scrounged or found materials, be it useful, beautiful, odd, playful, or thought provoking. On the final two days of the show (July 16-17) additional artwork will be on view as well as a creation station and an interactive sound station by SWARM member Bill Wallace. On July 17th a wearable art fashion parade is scheduled for the afternoon.

Check out the ReVision website here:  Revision: What is Recycled Art and here:  ReVision Gallery

The Creekhouse complex is a popular, high profile venue that will be showcasing many large and small scale works in both an indoor and outdoor setting. During the month of July visitors to Granville Island are estimated to be 35,000 per day.

Can’t get to Vancouver? Prefer the sunny, relaxing Okanagan? See Kurt at work on the RipOff Artists’ “American Gothic” Challenge, July 4 – 9 at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 34274 – 95th St,. Oliver, BC. Scroll down for full details!

Hutterli Creates Magical Works

Kurt Hutterli is an Oliver artist known for his whimsical three-dimensional installations created from found objects. His artwork brings smiles of delight, such as his light and breezy “Falling Leaves”  submission to the 2009 Fall Art Show and Sale and his reinterpretation of Lauren Harris’ Mount Lefroy as a rusted car hood. Now Hutterli has submitted a collection entitled “Three Objects Suggesting the Presence of Woodelves” to the Re-Vision juried show at the  Granville Island Hotel, Vancouver,  October 2 – 3. 

Is that just an antler stuck in a piece of wood? Or might it be an elf’s ear or hand or horn peeking out from behind a tree? Or a playful arrangement of objects left by some sprite to amaze or confuse a wayfarer in the woods?

Here is what the organizers of the Revision exhibit have to say:

“Revision – the art of recycling is a two day juried show featuring artwork made from recycled materials: anything reused, recycled, salvaged, scrounged or found – be it useful, beautiful, odd, playful, or thought provoking.

We hosted our first show in October 2007 to celebrate the Canada-wide Waste Reduction Week, and to provide a showcase for British Columbia artists using recycled materials as a major component in their work. We are dedicated to advancing public awareness in issues of sustainability by featuring art of high quality by artists who embrace recycling in their creative process. We hope you will come and enjoy the show.” (www.revision-theartofrecycling.com)

ReVision – the Art of Recycling
Granville Island Hotel,
1253 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC
Saturday & Sunday, October 2 & 3, 2010
11:00 am to 5:00 pm

 The Oliver Community Arts Council wishes Kurt the best at the ReVision exhibit. But your best chance to meet Hutterli is by attending the OCAC Fall Art Show and Sale in Oliver this weekend. See articles elsewhere in this website about the Fall Art Show and Sale!

Have comments or questions about Hutterli’s work? Submit them to olivercac@gmail.com and we’ll pass them on to the artist.

Want to see more of Kurt’s work? Take a look at The RipOffs Artists article in August 2010 on this website about their Lawren Harris “Mount LeFroy” multimedia exhibit. Scroll down to see photos, or search the archives list under “Hutterli” or “RipOff”. Good work, Kurt!

 Photo Credits: Kurt Hutterli (art) and Penelope Johnson (portrait)