Artists

Lee Scratch Perry

Press release

Lee Scratch Perry's first institutional solo exhibition in Switzerland and Europe opens at Cabaret Voltaire on April 11.

Lee Scratch Perry profoundly influenced the development of Reggae, Ska, and Dub. His legendary studios in Kingston, Jamaica, and Einsiedeln, Switzerland, are globally renowned. However, Perry's influence extends far beyond music. His body of work includes visual art such as costumes, totemic sculptures, and assemblages of language, film, painting, as well as everyday objects like CDs, mirrors, stones, and religious and pop-cultural images. He influenced not only music greats like Bob Marley or Keith Richards but also artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Perry connects with the Dada heritage of Cabaret Voltaire through interdisciplinary work, sampling culture, and a DIY approach. Both playfully broke societal norms, created their own mythologies, and were committed to process and collaborations. In Switzerland, Perry and the Dada group found a tranquil island conducive to concentration and creative expression. The incubators were spaces that are now internationally renowned: a beer and wine tavern in Zurich (Cabaret Voltaire) and the Blue Ark Studio in a garage in the canton of Schwyz.

The exhibition focuses on Perry's artistic creations since the 1990s in Switzerland. These include studio walls from the Blue Ark Studio, sculptural assemblages, paintings, decorated equipment, and processed material from his extensive video archive. Some works and video pieces have been specifically secured for the exhibition, making Perry's unique personality and the design of his environment tangible and illustrating the complex relationships and influences between music, spirituality, and art. Visitors to Cabaret Voltaire can enter a time capsule that provides access to Perry's thirty-year creative phase in Switzerland for the first time. The exhibition also includes works resulting from collaborations that help understand the archive as a living network.