Collection Georges Schwizgebel
Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland, 2023o
With his films, Geneva-based Georges Schwizgebel has been creating classics of contemporary animation since the mid-1970s. A collection of 18 works: Colors and figures are in ceaseless, surprising transformation. Schwizgebel paints directly on celluloid, so that the texture of the brushstrokes remains palpable in the final cinematic product. Each second of film consists of about 20 individual images - it takes the artist up to four years to make a six-minute film.
Born in 1944, Georges Schwizgebel is now the "grand old man" of Swiss animated film, despite his delicate appearance and manner. Since the mid-1970s, the Geneva resident has worked tirelessly on detail to create an impressionist-inspired oeuvre of short films that is unparalleled in Switzerland and has gained worldwide recognition. Schwizgebel paints directly on transparencies; the - virtuoso - brushstroke is always visible in his work. His theme and his basic cinematic form is metamorphosis, which he sometimes stages as a light waltz of life as in 78 tours, sometimes increases to a relay of famous paintings as in Le sujet du tableau, uses to reinterpret fables and ballads (L'année du daim, Erlkönig) or lays out as an abstract play of forms to classical music as in Fugue. The re-release initiative filmo, which reprocesses key works of Swiss film for digital distribution, assembles 18 of the director's films (almost all of them) into a showcase of works spanning forty years. A feast for the eyes and ears so dense that it is best enjoyed in several courses.
Andreas FurlerGalleryo
