Latest Events in Zurich(June Updated)

Wu Tsang and Enrique Fuenteblanca present an intervention within the Kunsthaus Zürich's ReCollect! series, combining works from the collection with a newly developed sound installation. La montaña invertida transforms the dome hall into a space for listening, sensing and rethinking.

As part of the “ReCollect!” series, Wolfgang Leib's work encounters masterpieces from the Kunsthaus Zurich's collection. Since the late 1970s, Leib has been dedicated to developing a minimalist, serene yet highly impactful art style, using materials such as pollen, wax, milk, rice, and stone in his creations. Leib's work engages in a cross-historical dialogue with approximately 30 pieces from the Kunsthaus Zurich's collection—works spanning art history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The exhibition features works by Fra Angelico (circular), Matteo di Giovanni, Philippe de Champagne, Claude Monet, Ferdinand Hodler, Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi, Giorgio de Chirico, Wassily Kandinsky, Verena Lovensberg, Peter Mondrian, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Sophie Tauber-Arp, and Lee Ufan, among others. Approximately 50 representative works by Leib vividly showcase his visual language: large pollen sculptures, pebbles (oval stone carvings), milkstones, pyramidal towers, walk-in wax rooms, rice houses, lacquer staircases, and other sculptures, paintings, and photographs. In addition, we will exhibit representative works of Asian art, particularly from India—including the important Jain marble sculpture, Jain Risaba, on special loan from the Rietberg Museum. The exhibition is held on the ground floor of the Mueller Building, an area that will be regularly used in the future to foster dialogue between the museum's collection and contemporary art. Leib, both an artist and curator, co-curated this exhibition with senior curator Philippe Bitner. Their long-standing collaboration dates back to a major retrospective exhibition held by the Beyeler Foundation in 2005. This new encounter between Leib's works and masterpieces from seven centuries ago not only allows visitors to gain a deeper understanding of Leib's sculptural techniques and material usage, but also opens up a refreshing perspective for re-examining the classic works in the museum's collection. Thus, a multi-dimensional space is constructed, where silence, time, and the presence of art intertwine and resonate.

This spring and summer, come and appreciate the monumental paintings of American artist Kerry James Marshall. His powerful works, brimming with color, pain, hope, and vitality, explore the lives and history of African Americans. African American artist Kerry James Marshall (born 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, and currently residing in Chicago) is hailed as one of the most important painters of our time. His large-scale, multi-layered works consistently center on the Black figure. Since the early 1980s, his paintings have critically explored the Western tradition of historical painting, exposing its omissions and exclusionary mechanisms. Art historical allusions are fused with imagery derived from popular culture, political history, African American daily life, and personal memories, creating a highly narrative and complex pictorial space. Characterized by vibrant colors, exquisite technique, and precise composition, these paintings explore issues of representation, power, belonging, and historical responsibility, while also affirming joy, a sense of existence, and hope. This exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zurich is the artist's first major retrospective in the German-speaking world, bringing together important works from different periods as well as new pieces.

War, past and present, has been an integral and vital part of Swiss history. This exhibition brings together multiple perspectives to showcase how war has influenced Switzerland's political structure, economic interests, and social order from the late Middle Ages to the present.From the myths that built identity around the Battle of Mülten, to internal conflicts such as the Peasants' War of 1653 and the Sondnes War of 1847, and even the potential threat posed by World War II: war in all its forms has shaped Switzerland's self-perception. Whether wars occurred within or outside modern Switzerland, they gave rise to new power relations and social contradictions—for example, the accumulation of capital through the arms and mercenary trade, the exacerbation of class conflict, and the transformation of gender roles.

A tranquil space, soft light, and subtle alterations to the familiar: the Kunstmuseum Zurich will host Switzerland's first comprehensive museum exhibition of Wilhelm Hammershøi's work. His paintings emphasize perception, atmosphere, and the delicate tension between space and objects.Empty rooms, closed doors, figures with their backs to the viewer: Hammershøi's paintings eschew narrative. There is no action, but rather a sense of focused concentration. The space is both familiar and strange, light gently sweeping across the walls, objects presenting a serene presence.His work is characterized by the most subtle gradations of soft color. The almost imperceptible variations within recurring themes sharpen the viewer's perception, making perception itself the subject of the work.Through interaction with the international art movements of his time, Hammershøi developed a unique visual language. His similarities to James McNeill Whistler are evident in his minimalist approach and focus on formal elements. At the same time, his work exhibits a surprising modernity, comparable to artists such as Giorgio Morandi. His focus on music further expands the dimensions of his art: instruments such as the cello or piano appear in his paintings, creating a tense stillness—like the moment before the first note. In addition to his signature interior paintings, this exhibition also features his portraits, cityscapes, and landscapes, placing his work within a broader art historical context.

The works of Maria Lassiniger (born 1919 in Kapel-Amklapfeld, died 2014 in Vienna) and Edvard Munch (born 1863 in Lothen, died 1944 in Eklee near Oslo) are exhibited together for the first time in a major exhibition. At first glance, the Austrian artist and the Norwegian painter—whose collection of Munch paintings is the largest outside of Norway at the Vienna State Museums—are separated by more than half a century. However, their works and lives share striking similarities. This thematic juxtaposition allows for a fresh perspective on their work. Both artists used color not only as a design element but also as a powerful means of expressing their inner world: emotions, bodily sensations, and their relationship with the world. For Maria Lassiniger, as for Edvard Munch, painting was not merely an artistic technique, but a way of self-examination. Their works depict inner and outer states that evoke direct emotional resonance in the viewer. The exhibition's subtitle—"The Flow of Painting = The Flow of Life"—is taken from one of Maria Lassiniger's paintings. It perfectly encapsulates the essence that connects the two: life and art are inseparable. This exhibition comprises approximately 160 paintings and works on paper, and was generously supported by the Oslo MUNCH, the Maria Lassnig Foundation, the Swiss UNIQA Art Insurance Company, the Truus and Gerrit van Riemsdijk Foundation, and the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation.

Maria Saul Escobar is one of the most distinctive artists in Pop Art. In her sculptural works, she blends pop culture, satire, and self-performance to create a unique visual language. Her work gained fame in the 1960s and is now being rediscovered—precisely and strikingly navigating between Pop Art and Neorealism. Maria Saul Escobar (1930–2016), also known as Maria Saul, was one of the most representative figures in the New York art scene of the 1960s. Her painted wood sculptures, often life-size, combine everyday objects with elements of popular culture, Dadaism, and folk art, creating a unique and often ironic visual language. Her work straddles the line between American Pop Art and European Neorealism, yet defies easy categorization into either. Early in her career, she developed a distinctive art form that intertwined self-portraits, social roles, and carefully crafted identities. The exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zurich is part of an international collaboration with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (in Hummelbek), the Boijmans van Berningen Museum in Rotterdam, and the Salzburg Museum of Modern Art. These institutions jointly present Marisol's first comprehensive retrospective in Europe. The exhibition was prepared in close collaboration with the Marisol Estate Management Committee at the AKG Museum of Art at Buffalo.