Matthias Liechti,selected works from 2016 to 2019

Clocks that could let us know when exactly we are and when exactly we have to be.Gates and portals whose passageways could let us know where we are and how we have to be. Cinema chairs for 6-year-olds which could let them know in which direction they can look and think and in which direction they have to think and look. Coffee grounds that show Margarita‘s future and colorful insects whose colorfulness becomes their doom.

Objects that could be used right or wrong or otherwise, and repetitive, incessantly dripping water that overrides everything else, resembling the constant ticking of a clock - thunder, birdsong and a short screech of a goose.

All synthetically produced, everything guaranteed unnatural and everything exactly like nature.

ML, 2020

www.matthiasliechti.chmatthiasliechti@gmx.ch

www.milieu-digital.cominfo@milieu-digital.com

exhibition view: Kaltes klares Wasser, 2019left to right: Cold Lights, One Afternoon, Cold LightsVilla Wenkenhof, Riehen/Basel ©Claude Barrault

One Afternoon, 2019physical modeling & additive synthesis (5.1 Dolby-Surround audio installation)28‘ loop

listen on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/339607448

Cold Lights, 2019chandelier, LED candles (6500k)dimensions variable

exhibition view: Kaltes klares Wasser, 2019left to right: Cold Lights, Cinema Chairs for 6-Year-Olds, Cold LightsVilla Wenkenhof, Riehen/Basel ©Claude Barrault

Cinema Chairs for 6-Year-Olds, 2019velour, polyester fiberglass laminate, aluminum, car paint200 x 55 x 70 cm

exhibition view: Kaltes klares Wasser, 2019left to right: One Afternoon, Cold Lights, Cinema Chair for 6-Year-Olds, 00:32Villa Wenkenhof, Riehen/Basel ©Claude Barrault

00:32, 2019pencil on paper, white aluminum frame, white aluminum standdrawing: 90 x 63 cm stand: 80 x 30 x 195 cm

Cinema Chair for 6-Year-Olds, 2019velour, polyester fiberglass laminate, aluminum, car paint50 x 55 x 70 cm

12 Cinema Chairs for 6-Year-Olds, 2019chipboard, car paint, velour175 x 165 x 45 cmPlattform19, Centre d‘Art Yverdon-les-Bains, CH ©Claude Cortinovis

The sculpture 12 Cinema Chairs for 6-Year-Olds quotes the cinema as a heterotopia par excellence: another space, a counterpoint or even a realized utopia. As an individual ‚enchanting machine‘ it is able to concentrate disparate spaces simultaneously in a single location and put things in relation to each other without them having anything to do with each other. Connections are created where there aren‘t actually any. At the same time, the cinema acts as a social space. It gathers an audience in the here and now and forms a mixture of different perspectives, which first collide and then are adjusted and rescaled into an order. If one imagines Matthias Liechti‘s sculpture not only as an abstract modular structure, but as a real arrangement into which (fictitiously) 6-year-old children could be squeezed, it loses its original lightness. The logical relationships between children and cinema chairs and the numbers ‚6‘ and ‚12‘, implied by the title, reinforce the latent uncanny: Connections are created where there are none. The transformational and at the same time organizing and normalizing potential of cinema-like structures could - when combined - become dangerous. In Matthias Liechti‘s armada of red velvet chairs, however, the threat is not obviously presented, but merely sounds like a possibility.

Based on our temporally condensed and spatially layered present, Liechti creates model-like scenarios and deviant topoi that invite viewers to a thought experiment. As fantastic catalysts, they lead into a world in which the usual perspective can hardly be applied and in which the boundaries between reality and fiction are dissolved.Deborah Müller, 2019

Gate (Schillerndes Warenhaus), 2018galvanized steel, glued460 x 280 x 13cm (installation dimensions variable)right: exhibition view: Kunsthalle Bern ©David Aebi

exhibition view: Interval in Space, 2017left to right: Boris Rebetez, Judith Fegerl, Matthias Liechticurated by Janine Stoll, Harald Krämer, Charles MerewetherOsage Gallery, Hongkong ©Daimao Wong

11:45, 2017pencil on paper, white aluminum frame90 x 63 cm

12:00, 2017pencil on paper, white aluminum frame90 x 63 cm

00:00, 2017pencil on paper, white aluminum frame90 x 63 cm

exhibition view: 不着边际 I Cannot See, 2016left to right: Matthias Liechti, LIAO Fei, Matthias Liechticurated by YAO MengxiV Space, Shanghai

Gate (Re), 2016galvanized steel, welded350 x 280 x 7 cm

Dear Margarita, 2016coffee grounds, margarita cocktail glass12 x 12 x 17 cm

exhibition view: Better Ideas for Life, 2016Dear Margaritacoffee grounds, margarita cocktail glass, core hole, LED lightglass: 12 x 12 x 17 cm core hole: 35 x 35 x 75 cm Karlin Studios, Prague

exhibition view: 不着边际 I Cannot See, 2016curated by YAO MengxiGate (W) & GesetzV Space, Shanghai

Gesetz, 2016turned cherry wood, pressed and rusty Orangina can, white stonedimensions variable

I told you!, 2016concrete, glass, polybothris sumptuosa gemaglass object: 22 x 22 x 28 cm each, concrete pillars: 35 x 35 x 150 cm each, insect: 4 x 2 x 1.5 cm

2015 - Co-director of Milieu www.milieu-digital.com 2018 Master in Fine Arts, Zurich University of the Arts, ZHdK 2017 October School, Shiv Nadar University SNU, New Delhi 2013 SpringTime with Tirdad Zolghadr, HKB & PROGR, Bern 2012 Bachelor in Fine Arts, Bern University of the Arts, HKB 2008 Vorkurs, Schule für Gestaltung, Biel 2007 Matura, high school, Bern

SOLO & DUO EXHIBITIONS2019 Kaltes klares Wasser, Villa Wenkenhof, Riehen, Basel2016 不着边际 I CANNOT SEE, with Liao Fei, curated by Yao Mengxi, V Space, Shanghai2016 No Massage, Espace Libre, Biel2015 L L L L L L, la rada, curated by Riccardo Lisi, Locarno2013 Room Room Shift, Gallery 42, Cetinje, Montenegro2013 SOME STEPS TWO CORRECTNESS Project space, Widmer+Theodoridis, Zurich2013 Das Henne-Ei-Problem (the chicken and egg problem), Lokal-int, Biel

GROUP EXHIBITIONS2020 Unreal Estate, HAMLET, Zurich2019 DRAWN, m3, Zurich2019 Plattform19, Centre d‘Art Contemporain, Yverdon-les-Bains, Vaud2019 AirBn3, Rue des Eaux-Vives, Geneva2018 Cantonale, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern2018 If it‘s Conceivable it‘s Possible, WallRiss, Fribourg2018 Private View, Haltingerstrasse 98, Basel2018 From the Studio: Degree Show MA Fine Arts 2018, ZHdK, Zurich2018 RETA Episode 3, Zurich University of the Arts, Project Space, Zurich2017 Interval in Space, Osage Gallery, Hongkong2017 Porzellan & Gold…still going strong, Stadtgalerie Bern, Bern2017 Interval in Space, Contemporary Art Centre, Scuol2017 Aeschlimann Corti Stipendium, Kunstmuseum Bern2017 Rhein am Reno, Gelateria Sogni di Ghiaccio, Bologna2016 Better Ideas for Life, Karlin Studios, Prague2016 Aeschlimann Corti Stipendium, Centre Pasquart Biel2016 Better Ideas for Life, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel2015 New!New Too! Regionale16, Kunst Raum Riehen, Basel2015 Cantonale, Centre Pasquart Biel, Bern2015 Old Friends New Ideas, New Ideas Old Friends, Milieu, Bern2015 Die Basis, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Bern2014 30 X, Young Swiss Art, Museo d‘Arte Lugano, Ticino2014 Swiss Art Awards: Kiefer Hablitzel Award, Basel2014 Gap, Schwarzwaldallee, Basel2013 HOT JAM! Les Urbaines, Lausanne, Vaud2013 THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK ANY FURTHER, Milieu, Bern2013 Kunst nährt, Aeschlimann Corti Stipendium, Kunstmuseum Bern2012 Das Raster gehört ein bisschen Mondrian, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Bern

AWARDS & GRANTS & RESIDENCIES

2020 New York, USA, Atelier Mondial & Residency Unlimited (residency)2019 Kulturförderpreis 2019 der Alexander Clavel Stiftung (award)2015 Kunstpreis Riehen (award)2015 Shanghai, China, SWATCH (residency)2014 Kiefer Hablitzel Preis (award)2013 Cetinje, Montenegro, CULTURESCAPES (residency)2012 Trächsel Stipendium with Feld 65 (grant)2009 Prix Kunstverein Biel (award)

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

@MILIEU2020 No Joke; Anna-Sophie Berger, Tina Braegger, Gabriele Garavaglia, Lorenza Longhi2019 Camille Aleña, Tomorrow land2019 Valentina Triet, Quader, Bricks, Loyalty, Heavenly Noblesse...2019 Mohamed Almusibli, A Beautiful Summer2019 Othmar Farré, Given Circumstances2019 Rita Siegfried; A Room of One‘s Own2019 supposition maybe conjecture; Jesson-Hill, Angi Nend, Paul Wyler, Julia Znoj2019 Hypnology; Mitchell Anderson, Natacha Donzé, Andreas Kalbermatter, Élie Lascaux, Mia Sanchez, Xu Zhen, Hannes Zulauf, & Pure Mania, Steiner, S S S S, Petit Singe, Brooklyn Bridge, Mr. Peña2018 Thomas Julier; The Awakening of Johannes Leuzinger‘s Flute-Playing Faun2018 Anita Semadeni; I built you a home2018 Natacha Donzé; The empire and the mansion2018 Livio Casanova, Liao Fei, Lionne Saluz, Raphael Stucky, Vera Trachsel, Yamu Wang, Arnaud Wohlhauser2018 Sabrina Röthlisberger; Indépendante2018 Morning! at Ciné Rex; Jiwon Choi, Keren Cytter, Isabella Fürnkäs & Lukas von der Gracht, Marta Hryniuk, Tobias Kaspar, Claudia Martínez Garay & Arturo Kameya, Adriane Morard, Steve Oram, Steven Schoch, Sorbus, Ian Wooldridge, Zhou Xiaohu2017 Vernunft und Ordnung; Nadim Abbas, Brigham Baker, Nikola Danaylov, Delphine Chapuis-Schmitz, Eloise Hawser, Thomas Julier 2017 Leon Höllhumer; SENSITIVE SPEED BEAST2017 Ivan Mitrovic; «Passiv-Aggressive»2017 Karin Borer; Choose a character2017 Look, all this is fraud; Victoria Adam, Marlen Keller, Jan Kiefer, Dominic Michel, Adrien Missika, Yves Scherer, Philipp Simon, Pedro Wirz2016 Victoria Adam; Chaperones2016 Lorenzo Bernet; Infinity Shambles2016 Gian-Andri Töndury; 10 x THEORIE (für dich, mein Liebling, mein Augapfel, meine Sonne..)2016 Florine Leoni; Aysha Kevin Michele2016 Clifford E. Bruckmann; FOREVER ANGST — DOOMSDAY PREPPERS2016 Delphine Chapuis-Schmitz; If anything remains2016 Jan Kiefer; Kästen2015 Goran Skofic; The Interruptions2015 Darren Roshier; THE PRINCIPLE OF FAILURE

@Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel

@Karlin Studios, Prague2015 Better Ideas for Life: Karin Borer, Simon Fahrni, Ramon Feller, Tereza Fiserová, Daniel Kurth, Krystof Hluze, Jakub Jansa, Matthias Liechti, Dimitri Nikitin, Jonás Strouhal

@Kunsthaus Langenthal, Bern2015 Die Basis: Kathrin Affentranger, Julia Bodamer & Sereina Steinemann, Anja Braun, Daniela Brugger, Jeremias Bucher, Martin Chramosta, Simon Fahrni, Ramon Feller, Chri Frautschi, Sara Gassmann, Delphine Chapuis Schmitz, Miriam Sturzenegger, Bernhard Hegglin, Jan Hostettler, Huber.Huber, Martin Jakob, Andreas Kalbermatter, Dominic Michel, Mia Sanchez, Anastasia Katsidis, George Kilo, Daniel Kurth, Mohéna Kühni, Matthias Liechti, Ivan Mitrovic, Karen Moser, Nico Müller, Markus Müller, Gil Pellaton, Levent Pinarci, Maya Rochat, Lorenzo Salafia, Ines Schärer, Gian-Andri Töndury, Angela Wüst, Aline Zeltner

CV, *1988 in Bern. Lives and works in Basel