Poesie bei Nacht: Pigeonaire Suite – Sofia Defino Leiby and Jiajia Zhang

For many artists whose creative focus is linked predominantly with a visual medium, a preoccupation with poetry represents an important element of their research. It is not uncommon for poems and lyrical texts to emerge from a creative process alongside artist's statements, conceptual descriptions or scripts for performances and video works. Often, however, these texts remain hidden between the pages of a notebook or in desktop folders. These poems are an integral component of their artistic process and not infrequently form the basis for a later expression, be that in another art form or as part a work of art.

The event series Poesie bei Nacht is a platform for ‘para-poetry’ by artists whose poetic work is not necessarily visible in their familiar practice, to take these texts seriously as poetry in their own right and thus also to shed light on the artists’ creative process. The project's goal is to give these literary works an autonomous artistic status and thus also reveal the artists’ working methods and broader forms of research. A work of art by each participant is also presented, in order to create a link back to the artistic practice for which they are known and to establish a connection between their writing and visual practice.

Sofia Defino Leiby's (b. 1989, USA) work has been shown in solo and group projects, including KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (DE); Sweetwater, Berlin (DE); PAGE (NYC), New York (US); The Green Gallery, Chicago (US); Clifton Benevento, New York (US); and others. Her writing has been published in Texte zur Kunst, Artforum, Pure Fiction and Spike Art Magazine, amongst others. She will publish her first book of prose with Bauer Verlag by the end of this year.

Work of Jiajia Zhang (b. 1981, China) has been included in various exhibitions and institutions, including FriArt, Fribourg (CH); Kunsthaus Glarus (CH); Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (CH); Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris (FR); Coalmine Gallery, Winterthur (CH); Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (CH); Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR); Museum Folkwang, Essen (DE) and others.

Poesie bei Nacht is part of Backrooms, an event programme from Kunsthalle Zürich, initiated by Otto Bonnen. The programme is in development and will be updated continuously.

The event will be held in English.

Venue: Kunsthalle Zürich, Ebene A
Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich

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Image: Sofia Defino Leiby