New commissions

The Kunsthaus Zürich invites contemporary artists to develop new, site-specific works in spaces that are freely accessible to all, enabling the museum to expand beyond its own confines. With a new series of commissions, interstitial zones such as the entrance hall and the garden of the new Chipperfield building are transformed into meeting spaces for casual encounters and lively exchanges. The series kicks off with:

Jeffrey Gibson
Chipperfield building, Haefner Foyer

The US artist Jeffrey Gibson has created a site-specific “Gesamtkuntwerk” for the entrance hall of the Chipperfield building, a work of art entitled boshullichi / inlʋchi—we will continue to change—an artistic statement about change and cultural continuity. Gibson combines traditional techniques of indigenous cultures in North America—weaving, beadwork, ceramics and basketry—with powerful geometric and gestural abstraction, to create a unique visual language that questions conventional art-historical narratives and uncovers new ways of seeing that are bold, colourful and forward-looking. Gibson (b. 1972 Colorado Springs, lives and works in New York) grew up in the US, Germany, Korea and the UK. An established artist now at the mid-point of his career, he unites a number of disciplines: sculpture, painting, printmaking, video and performance are all part of his repertoire. Gibson is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and has Cherokee ancestry. Following his highly regarded solo show in the US pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 and parallel to his project for the façade of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Gibson has now created his first work for a museum in continental Europe, curated by Abigail Winograd (US).

Monster Chetwynd
Chipperfield building, garden

An eye-catching new sculpture entitled Zardoz graces the Garden of Art of the Kunsthaus Zürich: a head, more than eight metres in height, by the British artist Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973 London, lives in Zurich). Zardoz is monumental, playful and inspired by the sculpture garden in Bomarzo and the worlds of science fiction. The sculpture is many things in one: artwork, conceptual space, fantasy world—and even climbing frame. A monster head in which young and old can climb up high and discover art through play. It is the first commission for the Garden of Art, curated by Raphael Gygax (CH) and it combines the tradition of the “folly” with contemporary, participatory art. Monster Chetwynd brings energy, humour and the “spirit of Dada” to her work, and her fantastical figures undercut traditional and often patriarchal imagery.

Zardoz was developed in collaboration with the startup Contouro stemming from ETH Zurich, associated with Digital Building Technologies chair. It was initiated by the Kunsthaus Zürich and realized in partnership with Swiss Sculpture Exhibitions (SPA).