Published on the occasion of the exhibition Urs Fischer: Mary Poppins organized by Claudia Schmuckli, Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, May 13—August 5, 2006.
7.5 x 9 inches, 48 pages, soft bound, full flaps.
ISBN: 0-941193-34-9
As Terrie Sultan wrote in the Introduction:
“. . . there are several things going on at once in Mary Poppins: a reevaluation of perception and of architectural space; a tribute to, and dissection of, the tradition of painterly gestures; the suggestion of narrative meaning in everyday objects and images; and the elevation of the humdrum nature of daily life via the infusion of the extraordinary with the ordinary. Surprise, it seems, forms the core of Fischer’s artistic enterprise.”
Surprise was part of this design process, more specifically for the invitation. The design task was in the lines of my past work with Ubu Gallery invites. Urs suggested I do anything I wanted and although I welcome open ended challenges, I needed something to bounce off of (the gallery had no clue what the material would be at that time). Eventually we got a 35mm slide of dusty detritus. And so the mailing was an invitation disguised as a piece of garbage in a plastic bag. No envelope. Urs loved it.
