Mathis Pfäffli

Works

*Temporary Relations (Zollikerstrasse 249)*
2023
Glass, aluminum, plastic, reused steel tubes, collected glass vessels, lost things found somewhere in the gaps of the pavement, a tiny shell, flint stone, parts of a heating system from an abandoned nursery, found devices, LED tube, electrical wire
Dimensions variable

*Temporary Relations (Zollikerstrasse 249)*
2023
Detail

*Glasses*
2022
Steel, agate, findings, magnets, chains, snap hook; in collab. with Aline Battegay
19 × 25 cm

*A Spiral And A Circle*
2023
Graphite on paper, magnets, metal box, glass
37 × 45 cm

*Walking Labyrinths*
2022
Graphite on paper, magnets, metal box, glass
36,5 × 45 cm

Installation view
lucid strolls second rumination, Saint-Martin Bookshop, Brussels, 2023

*Lamp 1*
Glass, neon, found stuff, magnets
Dimensions variable

*Collector*
2022
Glass, metal, found stuff, wheels
Dimensions variable

Installation view
Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023
^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

*Collector 2*
Installation view
Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023
^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

*Collector 6*
Detail, installation view
Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023
^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

Installation view
*Look A Long*
Projekt Links, Bern, 2022

*Remains and Myths*
2022
Graphite on paper, magnets, findings, glass and steel marbles, found metal box, glass
45 × 59 cm

*Glasses*
2022
Steel, glass, agate, findings, magnets, chains, snap hook
In collaboration with Aline Battegay
29 × 14 cm

*Europaplatz 1*
2022
Aluminum, electronic scrap, LED, cable, magnets, found objects, glass, concrete
Approx. 60 × 60 × 50 cm

Installation view spot on Mathis Pfäffli
*Floor is Lava*, Kunstmuseum Luzern, 2022, Lucerne, CH
^{Photo: Marc Latzel}

*Switchboard I*
2021
Wood, aluminum, metal rings, wooden beads
20 × 25 cm

Excerpt from *Tracer*, drawing series
2021–2022
Graphite on paper
29,7 × 42 cm

*The Kids Call It Ghosthouse*
2021
Aluminum, glass, LED, cable, steel cables, adapter, soapstone
80 × 80 cm
Installation view

*Hausgeist*
2021
Aluminum, glass, LED, cable, concrete adapter
30 × 60 cm
Installation view
^{Photo: Benedikt Bock}

*A set of keys* (Arnaud Wohlhauser)
VIEW FULL TEXT

*Palympsest Dust*
in collaboration with Rebecca Kunz
2020
Clay, waste glass, electronic scrap, cable, variable size
Installation view
^{Photo: Michael Baser}

*Palympsest Dust*
Detail
^{Photo: Michael Baser}

*Switchboard*
2021
Wood, glass, concrete, acrylic paint, found objects, round bakelite handles, rubber balls
57 × 103 cm

*All Beings in Serenity (s21e4)*
2020
Paper, found magnets, misappropriated tin
189 × 131 cm
Installation view
^{Photo: Martin Stollenwerk}

*What You Felt Was Not What I Felt, Thoughts in Symmetry*
2019
Collected glass, steel, steel cable, silicone, steel balls, variable size
Installation view
^{Photo: Anja Wille}

*Lens I of II*
2017
Engraved glass
Diameter 110 cm

Statement

Mathis Pfäffli is a Swiss artist living in Zurich. His work meanders between drawing, object, installation. A told story can play a role, often you have to imagine the narratives yourself. The boundaries of the works are sometimes not easy to recognize, much frays at the edges and mixes with the existing.

Education

MA, Fine Arts Institut Kunst, Basel, 2017
Illustration, HAW, Hamburg, 2008–2009
BA Graphic Design, HSLU, Lucerne, 2008

Upcoming

Mathis Pfäffli, Liste Basel,16–22 June 2025

Solo & duo exhibitions

Lucid Strolls: Second Rumination, solo exhibition, Saint-Martin Bookshop, Brussels, 2023
Lucid Strolls, Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels, 2023
Look A Long, Projekt Links, Bern, 2022
Canopy Launch Pad, with Jan van Oordt, MAT art space, Neuchâtel, 2022
Floor is Lava, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, 2022
Tooth Gap, Vera Wessels, Zurich, 2020
Only Openings and Ways Trough, La Dépendance, St. Imier, 2020
Palympsest Dust, with Rebecca Kunz, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, 2020
Open House, GGG Atelierhaus, Basel, 2018
Nebelmeer, Schwarzwaldallee, Basel, 2017
U, with Manuel Schneider, Oslo10, Basel, 2016
Menhir, Bazzar Compatible Program, Shanghai, 2015
Adapt Reflect Mirror, M35, Lucerne, 2014
Von Jetzt An Ist Alles Neu, Südpol, Lucerne, 2014
Barteronbarteronbarter, travel project with Nadine Gerber, Bern–Athens, 2013
Out Of Sight Chicago, performance with Nadine Gerber, Chicago, 2012
Cave, with Nadine Gerber, N Damen Ave, Chicago, 2012

Selected group exhibitions

The Poster Show, Sentiment, Zurich, 2025
Untitled, Suprainfinit Gallery, Bucharest, 2024
Mulberries and Elderflower, Pharmakon Gallery, Bucharest, 2024
Poetry for Revolutions, Istituto Svizzero, Rome, 2023
Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023
Stiff Neck, Giulietta, Basel, 2021
Indice Ultraviolet: Décalage vers le rouge, part of Jan van Oordts installation, CAN, Neuchâtel, 2021
Beauty is Everywhere, Museum im Bellpark, Kriens, 2020
In the Tall Grass, Feldbach, 2019
Etwas von Wir, lecture performance, Tatort, Lucerne, 2019
Alles was da glänzt, gelbes Haus, Lucerne, 2019
Open House, GGG Atelierhaus, Basel, 2018
Crib II, Galerie95, Biel, 2017
We Invite You To Hope, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, 2017
C’est fini l’ironie, Carrosserie, Basel, 2016
Werkbeiträge Kanton Luzern, AKKU, Emmenbrücke, Lucerne, 2015
If The Situation Leads To An Unknown Question Leave Footsteps Behind, Up-State, Zurich, 2015
Werkschau Chicago, with Nadine Gerber, Kunsthalle Luzern, Lucerne, 2013

Stipends and awards

Visarte Luzern Atelier Paris, 2024
Landis & Gyr Residency Bukarest, 2024
Swiss Art Awards, nomination, Basel, 2023
Junge Kunst, publication stipend, city of Lucerne, 2020
Research stipend, canton of Lucerne, 2017
Work stipend, canton of Lucerne, 2015
Travel stipend, Stiftung Otto Pfeifer, Lucerne, 2013
Artist residency, city of Lucerne, Chicago, 2012

TEACHING

ETH Zürich, Workshop & Mentoring at Studio Alexandre Theriot, 2024
MMA Mendrisio, Workshop & Mentoring at Studio Stéphanie Bru, 2024
HFG Offenbach, After School Club, 2014
INTEGRATED, Antwerpen, 2013
Stadtschulen Zug, 2019

Publications

TRACER, published with Spector Books, Leipzig, 2022
PREMISES, with Jan van Oordt and Sadie Plant, self-published, 2022

Press

‘Doing Things with Words: “Poetry for Revolutions: A Group Show with Manifestos and Proposals” at Istituto Svizzero, Rome’, review, Mousse Magazine, 2023
Poetry for Revolutions, Contemporary Art Library, 2023
‘Your Guide to Brussels Gallery Weekend,’ Critic's Guides, Frieze Magazine, 2023
lucid strolls, Contemporary Art Library, 2023
Floor is Lava, Mousse Magazine, 2022
Floor is Lava, KUBAPARIS, 2022
Indice Ultraviolet: Décalage vers le rouge at CAN Centre d’Art Neuchâtel, Art Viewer, 2021
We invite you to hope at Kunsthaus Baselland, Art Viewer, 2017
itsnicethat.com, 2015

Temporary Relations (Zollikerstrasse 249), 2023, Glass, aluminum, plastic, reused steel tubes, collected glass vessels, lost things found somewhere in the gaps of the pavement, a tiny shell, flint stone, parts of a heating system from an abandoned nursery, found devices, LED tube, electrical wire, Dimensions variable

Temporary Relations (Zollikerstrasse 249), 2023, Detail

Installation view, lucid strolls, 2023

Glasses, 2022, Steel, agate, findings, magnets, chains, snap hook; in collab. with Aline Battegay, 19 × 25 cm

A Spiral And A Circle, 2023, Graphite on paper, magnets, metal box, glass, 37 × 45 cm

Walking Labyrinths, 2022, Graphite on paper, magnets, metal box, glass, 36,5 × 45 cm

Installation view, lucid strolls second rumination, Saint-Martin Bookshop, Brussels, 2023

Lamp 1, Glass, neon, found stuff, magnets, Dimensions variable

Lamp 2, Detail

Collector, 2022, Glass, metal, found stuff, wheels, Dimensions variable

Temporary Relations (Zollikerstrasse 249), 2023, Glass, aluminum, plastic, reused steel tubes, collected glass vessels, lost things found somewhere in the gaps of the pavement, a tiny shell, flint stone, replica of an ancient figurine (toy?), parts of a heating system from an abandoned nursery, a small square stone (from an ancient Roman site), found devices, LED tube, electrical wire, Variable dimensions

Installation view, Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023, ^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

Collector 2, Installation view, Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023, ^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

Collector 6 , Detail, installation view, Bad Posture, Lausanne, 2023, ^{Photo: Thea Giglio}

Installation view, Look A Long, Projekt Links, Bern, 2022

Remains and Myths, 2022, Graphite on paper, magnets, findings, glass and steel marbles, found metal box, glass, 45 × 59 cm

Glasses, 2022, Steel, glass, agate, findings, magnets, chains, snap hook, In collaboration with Aline Battegay, 29 × 14 cm

Europaplatz 1, 2022, Aluminum, electronic scrap, LED, cable, magnets, found objects, glass, concrete, Approx. 60 × 60 × 50 cm

Installation view spot on Mathis Pfäffli, Floor is Lava, Kunstmuseum Luzern, 2022, Lucerne, CH, ^{Photo: Marc Latzel}

Switchboard I, 2021, Wood, aluminum, metal rings, wooden beads, 20 × 25 cm

Excerpt from Tracer, drawing series, 2021–2022, Graphite on paper, 29,7 × 42 cm

The Kids Call It Ghosthouse, 2021, Aluminum, glass, LED, cable, steel cables, adapter, soapstone, 80 × 80 cm, Installation view

Hausgeist, 2021, Aluminum, glass, LED, cable, concrete adapter, 30 × 60 cm, Installation view, ^{Photo: Benedikt Bock}

A set of keys (Arnaud Wohlhauser) , VIEW FULL TEXT

Palympsest Dust, in collaboration with Rebecca Kunz, 2020, Clay, waste glass, electronic scrap, cable, variable size, Installation view, ^{Photo: Michael Baser}

Palympsest Dust, Detail, ^{Photo: Michael Baser}

Switchboard, 2021, Wood, glass, concrete, acrylic paint, found objects, round bakelite handles, rubber balls, 57 × 103 cm

All Beings in Serenity (s21e4), 2020, Paper, found magnets, misappropriated tin, 189 × 131 cm, Installation view, ^{Photo: Martin Stollenwerk}

What You Felt Was Not What I Felt, Thoughts in Symmetry, 2019, Collected glass, steel, steel cable, silicone, steel balls, variable size, Installation view, ^{Photo: Anja Wille}

Lens I of II, 2017, Engraved glass, Diameter 110 cm