Seoul has only been my new home for a few weeks now, and Switzerland has moved into the distance for a while. Nevertheless, there will be some feelings of home today. Together with Daniel, I will be meeting two interesting personalities from Switzerland: Martin Klotz – photographer and son of the renowned artist
Our meeting point is a restaurant belonging to an American café chain that is ubiquitous here. “Seoul is a bit bigger than Basel after all,” says Daniel with a grin after it takes us a while to find each other. We quickly strike up a conversation in the café – curious to find out what the expectations and reactions are like when a Swiss artist exhibits in Korea.
A project of this kind requires careful preparation and a great deal of sensitivity. The exhibits, framed behind glass, were transported in a container. The long transport route and the insurance of the valuable works require detailed organization, as Gregor Muntwiler explains. On display are mainly early etchings and lithographs, two oil paintings and late monotypes.
Around three hours’ drive south of Seoul – not a great distance by Korean standards – is the Gonggamsonyoo Gallery on the west coast in Gunsang. Carefully curated works by Lenz Klotz are shown there in six modern pavilions and exhibition rooms.
The artist was already well-known at a young age. Around 70 years ago, Lenz Klotz made an international career leap: in the 1950s, he took part in an international group exhibition – at a time when abstract art and its representatives were heavily criticized.
Lenz Klotz did not create art for art’s sake. He was neither revolutionary nor political, but wanted to convey a new way of seeing.
Despite this early attention, he never sought the limelight. “On the contrary. As a farmer’s child, my father was very reserved, quiet, almost as if he was hiding behind his art,” says Martin Klotz.
Lenz Klotz did not create art for art’s sake. He was neither revolutionary nor political, but wanted to convey a new way of seeing. One should not constantly think associatively, not always look for the big bear or the beautiful muse. You have to abandon this school of seeing, says his son. Klotz wants people to take time for what lies behind the obvious – for the language of the composition, the whisper of the lines. The process was important to him: the longer you look at his works, the more depth they gain. Some tell stories, some contain a subtle joke, some have a dialog with their title.
I remember my art history teacher trying to drive out the spirit of purely associative perception. But it is difficult to teach subjectivity to a rationally trained society – a society trimmed for tables and clear explanations. At a time when factual perfection is no longer in people’s hands, the creative world could do with a boost in individual expression.
As a farmer’s child, Lenz Klotz was very reserved, quiet, almost as if he was hiding behind his art.
At the same time, Klotz was a very tidy person. His works are carefully titled, dated, numbered and provided with material specifications. Today, he is considered one of the best-documented artists in Switzerland. “I often scolded him and called him a civil servant artist,” says Martin with a smile. But perhaps this love of order was also due to his student days, during which he cataloged Ernst Ludwig Kirchner ‘s entire graphic estate.
It will be particularly interesting to see how Korean art lovers react to Lenz Klotz’s abstraction. “Koreans have a different approach to abstraction,” says Martin Klotz. “It is deeply rooted in its traditional art and culture. We see great potential to draw a line between the Korean and Swiss art worlds.”
During my stay in Korea, I also visited the two most important art fairs in the country: the KIAF (Korean International Art Fair) and the Frieze Art Fair, one of the leading global platforms for contemporary art, both in the Gangnam district.
After our conversation, we say goodbye in different directions. I am drawn to the flower market at the Express Bus Terminal. Perhaps a symbol for today’s meeting: the wild nature of man, the love of order in art – both in contrast and yet intertwined. The market stalls are lined up stall by stall. Small flowers grow wildly from the pots, while large flowers are carefully sorted by color in wooden racks. There are crushed leaves on the floor. On one wall I discover scribbled telephone numbers and lists.
The market closes early at midday. The light is extinguished. The midday sun falls hazily through the milky glass of the small windows – a quiet end to an artistic day.
Lenz Klotz, born 1925 in Chur, lived and worked in Basel from the early 1950s until 2017 and is considered one of the most important constructivists in Switzerland, the group of artists who radically dedicated themselves to abstraction. In contrast to some of his contemporaries, he was reserved and taught a new way of seeing. His oeuvre includes oil paintings, drawings, prints, collages and sculptures.
Ausstellung | 29.SEP. bis 15.DEZ.2025 | “Printing techniques and monotypes”
Exhibition by Galerie Eulenspiegel Basel in cooperation with Lenz Klotz Art Collection Switzerland.
Galerie Gonggamsonyoo, Gunsan, Republik of Korea
