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Adrian Schiess

born 1959 in Zurich, Switzerland
lives and works in Zurich and in the canton Jura, Switzerland
Quote Opening
Simply that … the song, that it sings, you understand, that it sings, that that is real and a real part of our lives … yes, that painting is simply there and not segregated off in some institution or in spaces specially provided for it or taking place at specially appointed times, but that it is always and everywhere a natural, self-evident part of our existence.
read inGerman
Adrian Schiess studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Zurich from 1975 to 1976, after which he trained to be a graphic designer from 1976 to 1980.
 
In 1984, Adrian Schiess began creating works in which he placed painted bits of cardboard (Fetzen) and wooden panels flat on the floor. This marked the beginning of a painting program “that scatters and disseminates infinitely” (Adrian Schiess). His well-known Flache Arbeiten (from 1987), which he later began calling Malerei (Painting), promote essential criteria of modernism, such as the expansion of the pictorial space, the separation of the picture from the wall, and the depersonalization of picture production. He also disconnects color from the picture by scattering it in the room in the form of chromatic gradients on panels that reflect the space around them. Such liberated painting can be produced using any medium or technique, like wood, paper, aluminum, video, or photographs.
 
In 1995, Schiess began working with wall objects made of condensed material as a way of concentrating the scattered pieces of painting on the surface of the wall on a small scale, while also explicitly emphasizing classical picture supports. In 2009, Schiess also began to make large paintings on polyester, which he initially produced on his studio floor in southern France. In these, Schiess pours thin acrylic paint over several layers of delicate, permeable polyester fabric, changing the order of layers until he can call it a finished painting. In the process, materials like leaves and little twigs that collect on the floor of the studio become stuck in the painting, thus transforming it into both a piece and a representation of nature. Many works in this series were shown together for the first time in the Musée d’Art Moderne de St. Etienne in 2010, after which they were exhibited at the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur in 2012.
 
Adrian Schiess participated in the Venice Biennale (Chiesa San Staë) in 1990 and the documenta 9 in Kassel in 1992.
 
Selected solo exhibitions: Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen (2020/2021), Musée du FRAC PACA, Marseille, France (2014); Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland (2012); Musée d'Art Moderne, St. Etienne, France (2010); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (2007); Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland (2004); Neues Museum, Nuremberg, Germany (2001); Kunsthaus Bregenz; Austria (1998); Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria (1996); Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland (1994); Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France, (1993); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland (1990)
 
His works can be found in such renowned museum collections as Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Belvedere, Vienna, Austria; FNAC, Paris, France; Fundação de Serralves, Porto, Spain; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis; Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein; Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Switzerland; MUMOK, Vienna, Austria; ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Germany.

Selected Works

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Adrian Schiess, Untitled, 2020 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Untitled, 2020
acrylic on polyester
284 x 170 x 4 cm (112 x 67 x 1 1/2 in.)
7 Zoom Views
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Adrian Schiess, Coquelicot I, 2020 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coquelicot I, 2020
acrylic, pine cone on polyester
280 x 212 x 9 cm (110 x 84 x 3 1/2 in.)
4 Zoom Views
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Adrian Schiess, Coquelicot, 2016 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coquelicot, 2016
acrylic on polyester
177 x 140 cm (70 x 55 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Coquelicot, 2017 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coquelicot, 2017
acrylic on polyester
176 x 75 x 6 cm (69 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 2 3/8 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Été, 2010 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Été, 2010
acrylic on polyester
250 x 650 cm (99 x 256 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Winternacht, 2012 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Winternacht, 2012
acrylic on polyester
340 x 250 cm (134 x 99 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Été, 2009 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Été, 2009
acrylic on polyester
300 x 250 cm (118 x 134 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Untitled, 2011 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Untitled, 2011
acrylic on polyester
250 x 340 cm (99 x 134 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Coucher du soleil , 2010 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coucher du soleil , 2010
acrylic on polyester
250 x 320 cm (99 x 126 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Papillon, 2014 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Papillon, 2014
oil, acrylic, PU foam on aluminium
25 x 32 x 5 cm (9 7/8 x 12 5/8 x 2 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Coquelicot , 2008 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coquelicot , 2008
lacquer, acrylic on aluminium
30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Coucher du soleil en août, 2004 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Coucher du soleil en août, 2004
acrylic, lacquer, oil, polyurethan foam, paper, transparent film on aluminium
30 x 60 x 19 cm (11 13/16 x 23 5/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
2 Zoom Views
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Adrian Schiess, Malerei, 2015 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Malerei, 2015
lacquer on aluminum composite panel
218 x 299 x 2 cm (86 x 118 x 3/4 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Malerei, 2005 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Malerei, 2005
lacquer and rainbow-lacquer on aluminum composite panel
150 x 312 x 0,6 cm (59 x 122 7/8 x 1/4 in.)
2 Zoom Views
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Adrian Schiess, Malerei, 1993 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Malerei, 1993
lacquer on aluminum composite panel, both sides painted
110 x 300 x 2 cm (43 1/4 x 118 x 3/4 in.)
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Adrian Schiess, Malerei, 2007 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan
Adrian Schiess
Malerei, 2007
inkjet-print and rainbow-lacquer on aluminum composite panel
218 x 299 x 2 cm (86 x 118 x 3/4 in.)
3 Zoom Views
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Public Exhibitions

Gallery Exhibitions

Exhibition
21 Oct – 2 Dec 2000

Adrian SchiessEinführung: Thomas Trummer, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Wien

Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
31 May – 29 Aug 1991

Adrian SchiessFlache Arbeiten

Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna

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