The latest additions to the collection address questions of identity, technology, and the role of art - past, present and future.

Wade Guyton’s “Untitled" (2020) from his “Flaming U” series features the well-known flickering flame from the cover of Stephen King’s 1983 novel, “Firestarter.” Guyton searches for evocative images, which he scans and digitally manipulates before transferring them onto linen. By embracing chance and incidental errors in this process, Guyton thus challenges conventional ideals of creation.

Thomas Schütte also adapts classical art forms, such as figurative sculpture. His "Double Head Nr. 3” (2015) is a parody of the traditional sculpted bust, with two faces staring in opposite directions embodying the experience of being in two minds. This striking artwork joins others by Schütte in which he explores the mortal coil in the context of memory and its loss.

In “Untitled” (2023), Laura Owens takes painting well beyond the frame with immersive handmade wallpaper installations. She explores the relationship between an artwork and its viewer, linking past, present, and future in a single piece. Borrowed from earlier works, the motifs in "Untitled" (2023) are sourced from 1920s lino prints made by art students in Cleveland Ohio, on a background featuring a digital redesign of a 19th century French wood block.

These latest additions to the art collection at The Alpina Gstaad all suggest a fascination with the past and a desire to return to a simpler age, but with the help of 21st century technology. Above all, they convey a yearning for authentic, unfettered self-expression, collaboration, and community.