{{Short description|Swiss artist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{Infobox artist | name = Heidi Bucher | image = Photo of Heidi Bucher.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Adelheid Hildegard Müller<ref name="winglossar">{{cite web|title=Heidi Bucher |url=https://www.winterthur-glossar.ch/heidi-bucher|website=Winterthur Glossar|publisher=Bibliotheken Winterthur|accessdate=30 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="website">{{cite web|title=Heidi Bucher Biography | url=https://heidibucher.com/biography|website=Heidi Bucher|publisher=The Estate of Heidi Bucher|accessdate=30 December 2024}}</ref> | birth_date = {{Birth date text|23 February 1926}}<ref name="winglossar"/> | birth_place = Winterthur, Switzerland<ref name="winglossar"/> | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|12|11|1926|2|23|df=y}}<ref name="winglossar"/> | death_place = Brunnen, Switzerland | education = School for the Applied Arts in Zurich | field = Sculpture | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | website = {{URL|heidibucher.com/}} | awards = | spouse = Carl Bucher 1960 ending in divorce in the early 1970s<ref name="website"/> }}
thumb|right|''La chute de l'espoir'', fiber, wood, glue, acrylic, 117 x 60 x 68 cm, 1986 '''Heidi Bucher''' (1926–1993<ref name="Phaidon Editors">{{cite book |last1=Phaidon Editors |title=Great women artists |date=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=80}}</ref>) was a Swiss artist interested in exploring architectural space and the body through sculpture. She was born in Winterthur, Switzerland and attended the School for the Applied Arts in Zurich.<ref name="alexandergray">{{cite web|url=http://heidibucher.com|title=Estate of Heidi Bucher|accessdate=5 March 2016}}</ref> Her work dealt primarily with private spaces, the body, domestication, and individual and collective experiences.
== Early work == Bucher's early work was mainly focused on the body. In the early 1970s, she moved to Los Angeles. While there, she collaborated with her then-husband Carl Bucher on ''Landings to Wear'' and ''Bodyshells''. The large-scale, wearable works blurred the boundary between sculpture and apparel, and they were featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bülow|first=Ane|title=Heidi Bucher at Freymond-Guth (review)|url=http://www.recentfuturearchive.com/2013/10/heidi-bucher-at-freymond-guth.html|publisher=Recent Future Archive|accessdate=10 February 2014|archive-date=30 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730000754/http://www.recentfuturearchive.com/2013/10/heidi-bucher-at-freymond-guth.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> An 8mm film shows the oversized foam "Bodyshells" in action on Venice Beach.<ref name="youtube">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVsk75w3V6Q,|title=YouTube - Bodyshells by Heidi Bucher|publisher=youtube.com|accessdate=9 February 2014}}</ref> They were showcased in an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Art and Design) in New York City and exhibited at LACMA in April 1972.<ref name="prod-images.exhibit-e.com">[http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_alexandergray_com/Bucher_Los_Angeles_Times_4_26_1972.pdf Newspaper clipping] prod-images.exhibit-e.com</ref>
==Later work== Bucher became more interested in the body's relationship to space in her later work. In the mid-1970s she began experimenting with a new technique, in which she soaked gauze sheets in latex rubber, and used them to cast the interior surfaces of the rooms of her grandparents' house in Winterthur, Switzerland. These were then pulled off in sheets to create thin, skin-like casts of the space;<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://frieze.com/article/heidi-bucher|title=Heidi Bucher|journal=Frieze|date=5 March 2014 |issue=161 |language=en|access-date=2017-04-02 |last1=Sherlock |first1=Amy }}</ref> she referred to these casts as "Skinnings."<ref name="alexandergray"/> In the 1981 film ''Räume sind Hüllen, sind Häute'', showcased at the Swiss Institute, New York, Bucher captured the process of peeling off latex skins from architectural spaces, specifically her grandparents’ house, transforming everyday surfaces like walls and floors.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Julian |date=May 2014 |title=Heidi Bucher: Swiss Institute |url=https://www.artforum.com/events/heidi-bucher-3-205146/ |access-date=December 28, 2023 |website=ArtForum}}</ref> Bucher's casting method, especially in works from the early 1980s, included slender bamboo poles to create relief in the latex skins, a technique not widely mentioned in official records. These were used to adapt to architectural details like inset paneling and door frames.<ref name=":0" />
In 2017, she was selected to be part of the main exhibition at the 57th Venice Biennale, ''VIVA ARTE VIVA''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/exhibition/artists/index.html|title=La Biennale di Venezia - Artists|website=www.labiennale.org|access-date=2017-07-14|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629160716/http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/exhibition/artists/index.html|archivedate=29 June 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-12 |title=Venice Biennale: triumphs and talking points |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2017/06/12/venice-biennale-triumphs-and-talking-points |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}}</ref>
== Solo exhibitions == {{Unreferenced section|date=November 2019}} * 2018: Heidi Bucher, Parasol Unit, London, UK<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cumming |first=Laura |date=2018-09-23 |title=Heidi Bucher review – memories are made of this |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/sep/23/heidi-bucher-parasol-unit-london-review |access-date=2023-02-24 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> * 2016: Hommage à Heidi Bucher und Carl Bucher, Kulturort Galerie Weiertal, Winterthur, CH<ref>{{Cite web |title=Galerie Weiertal |url=https://www.galerieweiertal.ch/ausstellungen.htm |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=www.galerieweiertal.ch}}</ref> * 2014: Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, USA<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heidi Bucher - Swiss Institute Contemporary Art - 해외 전시 - Lehmann Maupin |url=https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/ko/haeoe-jeonsi/heidi-bucher2/bodojaryo |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=www.lehmannmaupin.com |language=ko}}</ref> * 2014: Alexander Gray Associates, New York, USA<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heidi Bucher {{!}} April 9 - May 17, 2014 |url=https://www.alexandergray.com/exhibitions/44-heidi-bucher/ |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=Alexander Gray Associates |language=en}}</ref> * 2013: Freymond-Guth Fine Arts, Zurich, CH<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heidi Bucher: Water, Houses |url=http://freymondguth.com/old_site/P/BUCH_13.html |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=freymondguth.com}}</ref> * 2013: Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, France<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-28 |title=Centre Culturel Suisse de Paris presents Heidi Bucher exhibition |url=https://museumpublicity.com/2013/09/28/centre-culturel-suisse-de-paris-presents-heidi-bucher-exhibition/ |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=Museum Publicity |language=en-US}}</ref> * 2013: The Approach, London, UK <ref>{{Cite web |title=Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins → Heidi Bucher → The Approach |url=https://www.theapproach.co.uk/exhibitions/rooms-are-surroundings-are-skins/ |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins → Heidi Bucher → The Approach |language=en}}</ref> * 2004: Heidi Bucher – Mother of Pearl, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, CH<ref>{{Cite web |title=Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zürich, Switzerland - Heidi Bucher: Mother of Pearl - Museums and Global Exhibitions - Lehmann Maupin |url=https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/museums-and-global-exhibitions/migros-museum-of-contemporary-art-zurich-switzerland |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=www.lehmannmaupin.com |language=en}}</ref> * 1995: Kunsthaus / Barlach Halle K, Hamburg, DE * 1993: Villa Bleuler, Galerie im Weissen Haus, Winterthur, CH * 1993: Und ziehen das Gestern ins Heute: Die Häute aus dem Bellevue Projekt, Kunstmuseum Thurgau, CH * 1983: Hauträume, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, CH * 1981: Räume sind Hüllen sind Häute, Galerie Maeght, Zurich, CH * 1979: Parketthaut / Herrenzimmer / Mobili, Galerie Maeght, Zurich, CH * 1979: L‘Objet préféré de l‘artiste, Galerie Numaga, Auvernier, CH * 1977: Einbalsamierungen, Borg, Galerie Maeght, Zurich, CH * 1973: Bodywrappings, Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, USA * 1972: Bodyshells, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, USA * 1971: Soft Sculptures to wear, Museum of Contemporary Crafts (Happenings in conjunction with solo shows by Carl Bucher), New York, NY, USA * 1971: Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal (Happenings in conjunction with solo shows by Carl Bucher), CDN * 1958: Silkcollage, World House Galleries, New York, NY, USA * 1956: Collagen, Galerie Suzanne Feigel, Basel, CH
==References== {{reflist}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bedrooms of Heidi Bucher: Between Poetic and Post-1968 Social Influences |url=https://awarewomenartists.com/en/magazine/les-chambres-de-heidi-bucher-entre-empreinte-poetique-et-empreinte-sociale-post-68/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes |language=en-US}}</ref>
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://heidibucher.com/ Official Website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucher, Heidi}} Category:1926 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century Swiss sculptors Category:Contemporary sculptors Category:Swiss contemporary artists Category:20th-century Swiss women sculptors