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‘‘The Milk of Dreams’ takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1917–2011),’ says Cecilia Alemani, ‘in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination. It is a world where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else. The exhibition takes Leonora Carrington’s otherworldly creatures, along with other figures of transformation, as companions on an imaginary journey through the metamorphoses of bodies and definitions of the human.’

In a special presentation at Hauser & Wirth Publishers HQ, ‘Sophie Taeuber-Arp & Hans Arp: Cooperations – Collaborations’ brings together a selection of rare artist publications by Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp from the collection of Daniel Segmüller and Ruth Seiler. The selected books and portfolios on view, made during the Dada movement onwards, celebrate artists coming together to forge new ideas in the face of challenging times.

The collection features early examples of artistic collaboration in Dada Zurich with figures such as Tristan Tzara and Richard Huelsenbeck, as well as the work of celebrated modernist figures such as Max Ernst, Max Bill, Sonia Delaunay, and Alberto Magnelli. Original copies of Taeuber-Arp’s magazine ‘Plastique/Plastic’ are also on view in the presentation, which coincides with the major travelling retrospective ‘Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction’ at the Kunstmuseum Basel, organised in collaboration with the Tate Modern in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The display in Zurich follows several collaborative projects with renowned collectors who share Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ passion for artists’ books, recognising their importance within artists’ practices and legacies.

From Dada to Geometric Abstraction, Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s radical approach to abstraction makes her one of the most important artists of the 20th-century avant-garde and a key figure in the history of modern art.

The Swiss artist’s vast scope and singular vision, multifaceted approach to media, and challenging of the traditional hierarchies between fine and applied art, were revolutionary and provide a framework for many contemporary artists working today.

Our first exhibition devoted to Taeuber-Arp launches online on 11 June. This concise survey exhibition presents 30 works dating from 1916 to 1942, alongside photography and material from the Arp Foundation (Stiftung Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp e.V.) archives, which shows the scope of the artist’s vision. Our online presentation will be followed by a Sophie Taeuber-Arp exhibition in New York in 2021.