S-CHANF.- Von Bartha dedicates this year’s summer show in S-chanf, Engadin, to Swiss artist Boris Rebetez. Under the title Sentence, Rebetez has united a series of sculptural works, on display from 29 July to 7 September 2018.

With a background in language and writing, the series is underpinned by a modernist grammar based on geometrical elements such as the triangle, square angle and circle. Akin to contemporary architecture, these means of expression shape the artist’s visual vocabulary, bringing the sculptures to life as complete syntactical forms.

Consisting of finely wrought and colourfully painted steel, Rebetez’s sculptures render visible the different directions and movements within a specific space. Reminiscent of forms without function – be it structures, vessels or containers - Rebetez invites the viewer to consider the objects as traces or recollections of a utilization process.

The formalistic modernist design vocabulary leaves room for further interpretation and prospective project ideas, in this way the works can also be considered architectural models or plans. Whilst consciously playing with the notion of utopia, Rebetez resumes the longstanding theme of his art: spatial and temporal phases of transition.

Boris Rebetez (b. 1970 in Lajoux, Switzerland) is a multimedia artist who works with drawings, collages, sculptures, installations and photographs. He currently lives and works in Basel where he studied at the Schule für Gestaltung from 1990 – 1994. His work has been exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions at the Kunsthaus Baselland in Muttenz (2014); Kunst Raum Riehen (2012); Komplot in Brussels (2011) and Kunstmuseum Solothurn (2010). Group exhibitions include: INTERVAL IN SPACE at the Osage Art Foundation Hong Kong (2017/2018) and the Fundazion Nairs; Eternal Present at the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich and Helmhaus Zürich (2017); Sitting on a Branch at von Bartha, Basel (2016); Überzeichnen at the Kunsthaus Baselland (2015); Emergences at Bex & Art Triennale (2014); Warum ist Landschaft schön at the Kunsthalle Basel (2013); Celluloïd Brushes at Ludlow 38, Goethe-Institut, New York (2013) and Witte de With in Rotterdam (2012); Minimallinie at the Kunsthaus Palazzo in Liestal (2012); Prix Irène Reymond 2006–2012 at the Musée d’art de Pully (2012); Voici un dessin Suisse 1990–2010 at the Kunsthaus Aarau (2011); Sichtbar Unsichtbar at the Graphische Sammlung ETH in Zürich (2010) and Voici un dessin Suisse 1990–2010 at the Musée Rath, Genève (2010).

In 2006, Rebetez won the Basler Manor prize. In 2011, he was awarded the Irène Reymond Foundation award. In 2008, he was artist-in-residence at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma. His works are internationally represented in renowned private and public collections.