PROVENCE, Zurich
PROVENCE
PROVENCE is an international magazine published from Zurich with outposts in Berlin, Milano, Vienna and Riga. While having its backbone in contemporary art PROVENCE includes articles on fashion, criticism, music, literature, photography, film and architecture. Conversations between different artists, curators, writers, musicians, designers formate the core of the magazine, accompanied by academic articles and visual editorials.
Each PROVENCE has a focus theme and is accordingly designed. Such themes included „Art in the Service of“ (AW 18/19), „8 Femmes“ (SS 19) and „Punk“ for the up-coming issue AW 19/20 released in October 2019. Themes serve as lose guidelines rather than strict topics and include collaborations with writers, photographers, fashion designers and critics that produce content for the magazine and beyond. For SS 19, Shanghai-based fashion brand FFIXXED Studios designed a special bag. For AW 19/ 20 they collaborated with PROVENCE on a new jumper, „PROVENCE Backstabe“, first available at Art-o-rama.
PROVENCE was founded in 2009 by artist Tobias Kaspar and art historian Hannes Loichinger and has since published together with Pascal Storz as art director the acclaimed eight-issue cycle “P to E”, the PROVENCE City Guide: Nice and participated in numerous exhibitions world wide.
PROVENCE current team includes Olamiju Fajemisin, Jean-Claude Freymond-Guth, Nina Hollensteiner, Tobias Kaspar, Philip Pilekjær and Pascal Storz and is distributed internationally by SPECTOR BOOKS and BRUIL.
PROVENCE at Art-o-rama: THEMA SELECTION
At Art-o-rama, PROVENCE is creating a display in collaboration with the archive of legendary Zurich fashion label THEMA SELECTION.
Presenting original material including design patterns, clothes and textiles from 1972 until today, PROVENCE wants to highlight this gem of a lasting Swiss avant-garde phenomenon, that will also be featured in the AW 19/ 20 „Punk“ issue.
Founded by Katharina Bebié, Ursula Rodel and Sissi Zoebeli, three young woman with roots in the punk and art scene, THEMA SELECTION and its shop in the old town of Zurich, made a shocking splash back in the 1970s. The label attracted notice with its unique style and eccentric fashion shows while the shop itself became a favorite haunt of Zürich’s arts scene, collaborating with and involving young, later famed artists, critics, musicians and designers such as Walter Pfeiffer, Bice Curiger, Urs Lüthi, Manon or Marianne Müller and Martin Kippenberger.
After Vogue rapturously reported on THEMA SELECTION’s plainly-cut work clothes for women made from men’s fabrics and garments that play on their androgyny, the label became talk of the town, bolstered by headlines about international movie stars outfitted by Ursula Rodel and Sissi Zoebeli, as well as plenty of urban legends. Miraculously, until today, THEMA SELECTION has remained a almost family- like community of creatives around founding member Sissi Zoebeli. As a shop, an epicenter, home to many and yet carefully selected contexts and references, constantly evolving avant-garde, always on a thin thread between subculture and high fashion.
At Art-o-rama and for first time outside of Switzerland, selected original material from THEMA SELECTION’s archive will be on display along works by a.o. Walter Pfeiffer, Marianne Müller, Sonnhild Kestler and other friends and collaborators of THEMA SELECTION.
The comprehensive publication „Female Chic“ (Edition Patrick Frey, 2015) will be available.
For further information on the project and images, please contact Jean-Claude Freymond-Guth at jcfg@provence.st or +41-78-710-9474
www.provence.st
all images courtesy of Edition Patrick Frey & Thema Selection, Sissi Zoebeli