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Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer, Bad Timing, Lamb Chop!, 2004–05 Cast aluminum, polyurethane resin, and enamel paint, 177 ⅛ × 90 ½ × 129 ⅞ inches (450 × 230 × 330 cm), edition of 2© Urs Fischer. Photo: Erich Koyama

Urs Fischer, Bad Timing, Lamb Chop!, 2004–05

Cast aluminum, polyurethane resin, and enamel paint, 177 ⅛ × 90 ½ × 129 ⅞ inches (450 × 230 × 330 cm), edition of 2
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Erich Koyama

Urs Fischer, quarteredukulele, 2011 Top: ultralight MDF, acrylic sealer, wallpaper primer, wallpaper adhesive, paper, silk-screened acrylic paints, acrylic polymer emulsion, acrylic polyurethane, and urethane; base: cold-rolled steel powder-coated with polyester TGIC (RAL 6034), polyester tape, cork composite, and hardware; 34 ½ × 34 ½ × 24 ¾ inches (87.6 × 87.6 × 62.9 cm)© Urs Fischer/Gavin Brown Enterprise

Urs Fischer, quarteredukulele, 2011

Top: ultralight MDF, acrylic sealer, wallpaper primer, wallpaper adhesive, paper, silk-screened acrylic paints, acrylic polymer emulsion, acrylic polyurethane, and urethane; base: cold-rolled steel powder-coated with polyester TGIC (RAL 6034), polyester tape, cork composite, and hardware; 34 ½ × 34 ½ × 24 ¾ inches (87.6 × 87.6 × 62.9 cm)
© Urs Fischer/Gavin Brown Enterprise

Urs Fischer, quarteredukulele, 2011 Top: ultralight MDF, acrylic sealer, wallpaper primer, wallpaper adhesive, paper, silk-screened acrylic paints, acrylic polymer emulsion, acrylic polyurethane, and urethane; base: cold-rolled steel powder-coated with polyester TGIC (RAL 6034), polyester tape, cork composite, and hardware; 34 ½ × 34 ½ × 24 ¾ inches (87.6 × 87.6 × 62.9 cm)© Urs Fischer/Gavin Brown Enterprise

Urs Fischer, quarteredukulele, 2011

Top: ultralight MDF, acrylic sealer, wallpaper primer, wallpaper adhesive, paper, silk-screened acrylic paints, acrylic polymer emulsion, acrylic polyurethane, and urethane; base: cold-rolled steel powder-coated with polyester TGIC (RAL 6034), polyester tape, cork composite, and hardware; 34 ½ × 34 ½ × 24 ¾ inches (87.6 × 87.6 × 62.9 cm)
© Urs Fischer/Gavin Brown Enterprise

Urs Fischer, Horse/Bed, 2013 Milled aluminum, galvanized steel, screws, bolts, and two-component resin, 85 ⅞ × 103 ⅝ × 43 ¾ inches (218.2 × 263.1 × 111.1 cm), edition of 3© Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer, Horse/Bed, 2013

Milled aluminum, galvanized steel, screws, bolts, and two-component resin, 85 ⅞ × 103 ⅝ × 43 ¾ inches (218.2 × 263.1 × 111.1 cm), edition of 3
© Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer, mermaid, 2014 Cast bronze, 40 ½ × 48 × 84 inches (102.9 × 121.9 × 213.4 cm), edition of 2© Urs Fischer. Photo: Melissa Christy

Urs Fischer, mermaid, 2014

Cast bronze, 40 ½ × 48 × 84 inches (102.9 × 121.9 × 213.4 cm), edition of 2
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Melissa Christy

Urs Fischer, last supper, 2014 Cast bronze, 60 × 60 × 300 inches (152.4 × 152.4 × 762 cm), edition of 2© Urs Fischer. Photo: Melissa Christy

Urs Fischer, last supper, 2014

Cast bronze, 60 × 60 × 300 inches (152.4 × 152.4 × 762 cm), edition of 2
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Melissa Christy

Urs Fischer, Oxygen, 2015 Aluminum panel, aramid honeycomb, two-component polyurethane adhesive, two-component epoxy primer, galvanized steel rivet nuts, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 132 ½ × 106 inches (336.6 × 269.2 cm)© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

Urs Fischer, Oxygen, 2015

Aluminum panel, aramid honeycomb, two-component polyurethane adhesive, two-component epoxy primer, galvanized steel rivet nuts, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 132 ½ × 106 inches (336.6 × 269.2 cm)
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

Urs Fischer, Landscape, 2016 Aluminum panel, epoxy, reinforced polyurethane foam, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 71 × 127 ⅜ inches (180.3 × 323.5 cm)© Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer, Landscape, 2016

Aluminum panel, epoxy, reinforced polyurethane foam, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 71 × 127 ⅜ inches (180.3 × 323.5 cm)
© Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer, Low Lying Cloud, 2016 Cast bronze, acrylic primer, chalk gesso, rabbit skin glue, and oil paint, 8 ¼ × 15 ¼ × 7 ½ inches (21 × 38.7 × 19.1 cm), edition of 2© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

Urs Fischer, Low Lying Cloud, 2016

Cast bronze, acrylic primer, chalk gesso, rabbit skin glue, and oil paint, 8 ¼ × 15 ¼ × 7 ½ inches (21 × 38.7 × 19.1 cm), edition of 2
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

Urs Fischer, aceofpigs, 2016 Aluminum, epoxy, steel, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 59 × 59 ¾ inches (149.9 × 151.8 cm), edition of 2 + 1 AP© Urs Fischer. Photo: Rob McKeever

Urs Fischer, aceofpigs, 2016

Aluminum, epoxy, steel, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, and acrylic paint, 59 × 59 ¾ inches (149.9 × 151.8 cm), edition of 2 + 1 AP
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Rob McKeever

Urs Fischer, Foamcore, 2017 Aluminum panel, aramid honeycomb, two-component polyurethane adhesive, two-component epoxy primer, galvanized steel rivet nuts, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, acrylic paint, and oil medium, 96 × 120 inches (243.8 × 304.8 cm)© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

Urs Fischer, Foamcore, 2017

Aluminum panel, aramid honeycomb, two-component polyurethane adhesive, two-component epoxy primer, galvanized steel rivet nuts, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, acrylic paint, and oil medium, 96 × 120 inches (243.8 × 304.8 cm)
© Urs Fischer. Photo: Mats Nordman

About

People seem to fear art. Art has always been a word for this thing that can’t be rationalized; when you see or hear something that you struggle to explain. But that’s its strength, of course, that’s what the word “art” is for.
—Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer mines the potential of materials—from clay, steel, and paint to bread, dirt, and produce—to create works that disorient and bewilder. Through scale distortions, illusion, and the juxtaposition of common objects, his sculptures, paintings, photographs, and large-scale installations explore themes of perception and representation while maintaining a witty irreverence and mordant humor.

Born in 1973, Fischer began his artistic career studying photography at the Schule für Gestaltung in Zurich. He later lived in London and Los Angeles, and shared a studio with Rudolf Stingel in both Berlin and New York. Themes of absence and presence, as well as the processes of art production, pervade his work, in which Fischer makes use of tables, chairs, shadows, and light to explore distortion and anthropomorphism. In Stuhl mit (1995–2001), bulbous, fabric-covered legs merge with a wooden chair, and in Studies for chairs for individual seating positions (1993), the absence of a human body is suggested by a sawdust and rubber mold draped over the furniture.

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Urs Fischer: Wave

Urs Fischer: Wave

In this video, Urs Fischer elaborates on the creative process behind his public installation Wave, at Place Vendôme, Paris.

Anna Weyant’s Two Eileens (2022) on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Winter 2022

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Winter 2022

The Winter 2022 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Anna Weyant’s Two Eileens (2022) on its cover.

Urs Fischer: Denominator

Urs Fischer: Denominator

Urs Fischer sits down with his friend the author and artist Eric Sanders to address the perfect viewer, the effects of marketing, and the limits of human understanding.

Urs Fischer and Francesco Bonami speaking amidst the installation of "Urs Fischer: Lovers" at Museo Jumex, Mexico City

Urs Fischer: Lovers

The exhibition Urs Fischer: Lovers at Museo Jumex, Mexico City, brings together works from international public and private collections as well as from the artist’s own archive, alongside new pieces made especially for the exhibition. To mark this momentous twenty-year survey, the artist sits down with the exhibition’s curator, Francesco Bonami, to discuss the installation.

Awol Erizku, Lion (Body) I, 2022, Duratrans on lightbox, 49 ⅜ × 65 ⅝ × 3 ¾ inches (125.4 × 166.7 × 9.5 cm) © Awol Erizku

Awol Erizku and Urs Fischer: To Make That Next Move

On the eve of Awol Erizku’s exhibition in New York, he and Urs Fischer discuss what it means to be an image maker, the beauty of blurring genres, the fetishization of authorship, and their shared love for Los Angeles.

Installation view of Urs Fischer’s Untitled (2011) in Ouverture, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, 2021. Artwork © Urs Fischer, courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Niney et Marca Architectes, Agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier. Photo: Stefan Altenburger

Bourse de Commerce

William Middleton traces the development of the new institution, examining the collaboration between the collector François Pinault and the architect Tadao Ando in revitalizing the historic space. Middleton also speaks with artists Tatiana Trouvé and Albert Oehlen about Pinault’s passion as a collector, and with the Bouroullec brothers, who created design features for the interiors and exteriors of the museum.

Augurs of Spring

Augurs of Spring

As spring approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, Sydney Stutterheim reflects on the iconography and symbolism of the season in art both past and present.

Installation view, Crushed, Cast, Constructed: Sculpture by John Chamberlain, Urs Fischer, and Charles Ray, Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London, June 15–July 31, 2020

Uncanny Delights: Sculpture by John Chamberlain, Urs Fischer, and Charles Ray

Catalyzed by the exhibition Crushed, Cast, Constructed: Sculpture by John Chamberlain, Urs Fischer, and Charles Ray, Alice Godwin examines the legacy and development of a Surrealist ethos in selected works from three contemporary sculptors.

Installation view, Urs Fischer: The Lyrical and the Prosaic, Aïshti Foundation, Beirut, October 20, 2019–October 31, 2020.

Urs Fischer: Lives of Forms

In his introduction to the catalogue for Urs Fischer’s exhibition The Lyrical and the Prosaic, at the Aïshti Foundation in Beirut, curator Massimiliano Gioni traces the material and conceptual tensions that reverberate throughout the artist’s paintings, sculptures, installations, and interventions.

Urs Fischer, A–Z, 2019, a sculpture of a pear and an apple.

Fruit and Vegetables: Francesco Bonami on Urs Fischer

Fruit and vegetables are a recurring motif in Urs Fischer’s visual vocabulary, introducing the dimension of time while elaborating on the art historical tradition of the vanitas. Here, curator Francesco Bonami traces this thread through the artist’s sculptures and paintings of the past two decades.

Five Books: Urs Fischer

Shortlist
Five Books: Urs Fischer

Urs Fischer talks about reading during the pandemic lockdown, sharing five books—both fiction and nonfiction—that he has turned to while in self-isolation.

Installation video of Urs Fischer's exhibition, Leo. A painting of an eye and a sculpture of three humans.

Urs Fischer: Leo

Journalist and curator Judith Benhamou-Huet leads a tour of the exhibition Urs Fischer: Leo at Gagosian, Paris.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Urs Fischer, Rose, 2024 © Urs Fischer. Photo: Stefan Altenburger

Installation

Urs Fischer
Rose

Urs Fischer’s painting Rose (2024) is on view in the vitrine at Gagosian, rue de Ponthieu, Paris, as part of the artist’s exhibition Beauty at the rue de Castiglione gallery.

In 2010, Fischer began the Problem Paintings series, layering vivid screen-printed images of familiar objects and organic forms—from fixtures and fittings to fruits and vegetables—over precisely rendered enlargements of vintage Hollywood headshots. Rose belongs to this series and shows a glamorous screen actor wearing red lipstick, her face partially obscured by a luscious pink rose with a bright green stem and leaves. The juxtaposition enacts a playful conflict between clarity and secrecy, aesthetic experimentation and symbolic meaning. Evoking the cryptological messaging of Victorian floriography, Rose confronts the viewer with a mischievous, perhaps unsolvable visual conundrum.

Urs Fischer, Rose, 2024 © Urs Fischer. Photo: Stefan Altenburger

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Art Fair

West Bund Art & Design 2023

November 9–12, 2023, booth A102
West Bund Art Center, Shanghai
www.westbundshanghai.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in West Bund Art & Design with an extensive group presentation. The gallery will exhibit works by Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Katharina Grosse, Hao Liang, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Alex Israel, Jia Aili, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Cameron Welch, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Urs Fischer, Candyfloss, 2023 © Urs Fischer

Installation

Urs Fischer
Candyfloss

October 12–November 28, 2023
Gagosian, rue de Ponthieu, Paris

Urs Fischer’s painting Candyfloss (2023) is on view in the street-facing vitrine at Gagosian, rue de Ponthieu, Paris, presented along with the artist’s monumental sculpture Wave (2018) at Place Vendôme in Paris as part of Paris+ par Art Basel.

Candyfloss is one of the latest works in Fischer’s series of Problem Paintings, which he began in 2010. In this series, the artist formulates incongruous pairings of photographic portraits with vibrantly colored screenprinted images of inanimate objects. In Candyfloss, Fischer overlays an enlarged picture of a cerise-pink daisy on a digitally altered headshot of a Hollywood actress, obscuring her identity through the blossom’s placement. The visual “problem” resulting from this friction between illegibility and possibility—and from the clash of representational systems suggested by the flower’s mysteriously improbable shadow—is at once surprising and darkly humorous.

Urs Fischer, Candyfloss, 2023 © Urs Fischer

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Museum Exhibitions

John Chamberlain with his raw materials at Stanley Marsh 3’s ranch Toad Hall, Amarillo, Texas, 1972. Photo: Leo Castelli Gallery records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

On View

John Chamberlain
THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL

Through April 7, 2024
Aspen Art Museum, Colorado
www.aspenartmuseum.org

Curated by Urs Fischer and developed in collaboration with Dia Art Foundation, New York, THE TIGHTER THEY’RE WOUND, THE HARDER THEY UNRAVEL is the first institutional survey in the United States devoted to John Chamberlain in over a decade. Spanning three floors of the museum and arranged in an evocative, cross-temporal mise-en-scène, the exhibition embraces Chamberlain’s love of discovery and intuitive approach to scale, fit, and attachment.

John Chamberlain with his raw materials at Stanley Marsh 3’s ranch Toad Hall, Amarillo, Texas, 1972. Photo: Leo Castelli Gallery records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Rachel Feinstein, Mr. Time, 2015 © Rachel Feinstein

On View

Fairy Tales

Through April 28, 2024
Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

Fairy Tales explores centuries of beloved folk stories through contemporary art, costumes, immersive installations, and cinema from visual storytellers around the world. The exhibition aims to untangle themes of bravery and justice, loyalty and humility, cunning and aspiration. Work by Rachel Feinstein, Urs Fischer, and Carsten Höller is included.

Rachel Feinstein, Mr. Time, 2015 © Rachel Feinstein

Urs Fischer, The Lovers #2, 2018, installation view, Museo Jumex, Mexico City © Urs Fischer

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Urs Fischer
Lovers

April 2–September 18, 2022
Museo Jumex, Mexico City
www.fundacionjumex.org

This twenty-year survey—the first major presentation of Urs Fischer’s work in Mexico—brings together works from international public and private collections as well as from the artist’s own archive, alongside new pieces made especially for the exhibition. Together, they exhibit the wide-ranging creativity, humor, and depth of Fischer’s practice.

Urs Fischer, The Lovers #2, 2018, installation view, Museo Jumex, Mexico City © Urs Fischer

Installation view, Before—Between—Beyond: The Collection in Transition, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland, May 15–August 7, 2022. Artwork, front to back: © Urs Fischer, © Christian Philipp Müller. Photo: Philipp Hitz

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Urs Fischer in
Before—Between—Beyond: The Collection in Transition

May 15–August 7, 2022
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

Before—Between—Beyond stages a selection of the Aargauer Kunsthaus’s latest acquisitions alongside other key contemporary works. The exhibition describes new narrative arcs in three chapters, reflecting the past, questioning the present, and venturing a glimpse of the future—sometimes gleefully departing from chronological order in the process. Combining photography, sculpture, painting, video, printed graphics, and drawing with large-scale installations and site-specific works that were created especially for this show, the presentation offers glimpses into the holdings of this public collection of Swiss art. Work by Urs Fischer is included.

Installation view, Before—Between—Beyond: The Collection in Transition, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland, May 15–August 7, 2022. Artwork, front to back: © Urs Fischer, © Christian Philipp Müller. Photo: Philipp Hitz

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Press

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