Fri-Art - New York 1985

Fri-Art organized an exhibition in New York in 1985, with the participation of about fifty Swiss artists in five places known for their engagement in the contemporary art. The working corporations were: The Clocktower, Franklin Furnace, The Kitchen : La MAMA E.T.C. and The Collective for Living Cinema. A group of six artists decided to present a collective work for the official opening of the Contemporary Art Centre of Fribourg.

The artists chose as a starting point the composition of the Swiss soccer team in the game which opposed them and the USSR in Bern in 1985. The motifs painted on the fabrics represent the shirts of the clubs of each player’s origin.  The emblematic representation of these shirts returns to the membership to the group.  From this mise-en-scène, the ideas of the play, the fight, the competition and the emulation thus emerge, components also applicable to the art milieus, where individualities, speeches and styles are opposed.