Manhattan won't let go of artist Jonas Burkhalter

His new photographs revolve primarily around the city that - under normal circumstances - never sleeps. And he searches for the big connections with his choice of objects

The colourful and large-format photos of Manhattan in the "Worlds 2000" series are immediately noticeable. They fill an entire wall, and show tall buildings with famous facades in the well-known squares that characterize the cityscape of New York.

But, except for a few people and vehicles, there is now a surprising emptiness in Manhattan, where crowds of tourists are usually seen. The situation caused by Corona gave Jonas Burkhalter an unusual view of this district and its diverse architecture. From March to August of this year – during the lockdown – he captured such moments with the camera. "I’ve been to Manhattan several times In the last few years. But this situation in the typical tourist resorts, to which I don't normally go, seemed almost oblique due to its empty canyons and closed shops," said the artist at the vernissage in the Galerie Billing in Baar.

It is not only the architecture that interests him most in this city, but he also perceives its atmosphere– like a sensitive observer. And Burkhalter explains that he recorded most of the research work for with a digital camera. He rarely uses the analog camera, in which the negative is about the size of one page. In the exhibition, he shows just one such large-format pigment print of Time Square.

Different fields of work
The 37-year-old is a versatile artist who, in addition to photography, also occupies himself with painting and creates objects across various media. "I'm interested in exploring different creative functions," he says. For example, he has created mixed media objects on honeycomb board with the letters NYC, which resonate with his design experience.

Jonas Burkhalter (37) fills the rooms of the Galerie Billing Bild with his photographs and objects
Pictures: Roger Zbinden (28 November 2020)

The man-high figures in the middle of the room, created from the same trunk of a white fir tree and on which direction arrows form creative elements, cannot be overlooked. "I shaped them with a chainsaw, so that the individual parts can lean against each other." The work "Opportunity" shows loosely arranged Thuja trunks on a three-layer wooden panel. " I want to provoke a thought with these grown structures, because the complexity of nature also plays a role in my process-oriented work. And the visitor can let his own thoughts play."

Jonas Burkhalter is interested in big connections. Symbolically, and with a wink in his eye, he lets five plastic globes dance around between the works of art. "I want to understand how the world and its systems work. That's why I don't create images of nature and work less thematically. The "Manhattan-Project" is not yet completely finished, I would like to deepen the analog series. Thanks to the Zug Working Year award in 2019, I’m not under pressure."

Jonas Burkhalter, who was born in Zug in 1983 and now lives in the Zurich region, has been working as a freelance artist since graduating as a Master of Fine Arts at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in 2010. He has already presented his works in various art spaces and museums in Switzerland, and will also be involved in the "Zentral" exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Lucerne from 5^th December.

Note
"Zyt, Quadrat” (Time, Square) by Jonas Burkhalter is to run until the end of January 2021 at the Galerie Billing, Haldenstrasse 1, Baar. Open on Monday, Thursday and Friday from 2 pm - 6pm, and on Satrday from 10 am – 4 pm.