With Judith Albert, Anna Maria Babberger-Tobler, Arnold Böcklin, Miriam Cahn, Edouard Castres, James Coleman, Anton Egloff, Cornelius Engelbrechtsz, Helmut Federle, Ferdinand Hodler, Irma Ineichen, Urs Lüthi, Martin Moser, Archiv Allan Porter, Eduard Renggli, Hans Schärer, Taryn Simon, André Thomkins, J.M.W. Turner, Felix Vallotton, Ben Vautier, Hannah Villiger, Aldo Walker, Clemens von Wedemeyer

Semiotics, semantics, iconography?! Art history employs many such technical terms when reading images. There are numerous theoretical approaches that attempt to explain who, when and under what preconditions images can be understood. After all, signs and symbols are bound to their respective context — they are not always understood in the same way everywhere. And how is the object related to its image?

The Collection Exhibition is offering a special kind of lesson: From A as in archive to B as in brushwork, etc., we are showing works from the collection that stand for some of the key terms used in image viewing — themes such as symbol and symbolism, picture archives and their classifications, the depiction of politics and cultic paintings, as well as the representation of one’s own body. For the first time since 2001, James Coleman’s slide projection Charon (MIT Project) will be on show. This installation deconstructs everyday images and explores the relationship between truth and fiction. Simple wall texts about terms from image theory provide the necessary tools for viewing the works.