SAMMLUNG &: SYLVIE FLEURY SHAMIRAN ISTIFAN
26.9. – 17.1.27

She-Devils on Wheels – Angels on Heels brings together works by the artists Sylvie Fleury and Shamiran Istifan that move between the visual worlds of pop culture, mythology, everyday life and glamour.

The starting point is Sylvie Fleury’s She-Devils on Wheels – Headquarters (1997) from the museum collection. It is a work she exhibited in 1998 at her solo show at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst. Fleury transforms the exhibition space into the headquarters of a motoring club. Other objects appear amidst the workshop equipment, tyres and oil drums, such as oversized lipstick tips or a rocket-shaped sculpture. These symbols with their feminine and masculine connotations playfully challenge stereotypical gender images.

On the other hand, Shamiran Istifan presents a series of new works. One of the starting points is Irma Vep, a legendary character from the world of film and a master of transformation full of contradictions. In the video work The Hunted (2026), Istifan re-interprets Vep, making her roam through a supermarket and beauty salon armed with bow and arrow. Hunter and hunted, observer and observed, in the guise of Irma Vep the artist challenges fixed notions of gender and belonging. In Istifan’s other works, too, familiar meanings are shifted and reconfigured, for instance when ancient columns become decorative elements for weddings, or when the architectural form of a temple is covered in delicate fabric.

Whether a motor car club or a beauty salon, a rocket or wedding décor, both artists appropriate symbols and charge them with new meanings. Their works encourage us to reflect on our own perceptions and assumptions in a critical light.

Sammlung & refers to exhibitions in which works from the collection of the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst are presented in new combinations. The works resonate with pieces from outside the collection, or artists are invited to juxtapose their own practice with works from the collection.