Works on paper (1965-2015)

Galerie Bob Gysin takes pleasure in presenting a selection of works on paper by Matthias Bosshart. A number of these pieces will be on public display for the first time ever.

The Zürich artist has long enjoyed significant renown, primarily due to his large-scale film-strip works. The current retrospective includes fifty years of his artistic output on paper[MP1] created alongside or even prior to those works.  

His occasionally fragmentary pieces are atmospheric, enigmatic compositions; many of them include two-dimensional objets trouvés. He combines his original visual material with associatively treated fragments. It is the accidental merging of content and form that transforms these small works into precious items.

Bosshart was still a child when his father introduced him to artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Goya, Klee, Kandinsky and Mondrian. he was especially impressed by Mondrian's consistent journey from Naturalism to Abstraction. Japanese woodcuts by Ukiyo-E artists such as Hokusai and their 'pictures of the floating world' also continue to inspire him.

His early works date from the late 1960s. Travel experiences, studies and scholarships gave rise to three groups of works: extensive travels from summer 1971 until autumn 1978 took him to London for three months prior to an overland journey to India, followed by an extended stay in Turkey in spring 1973.
From autumn that year he attended the Fachklasse für Gestaltung in Basel with tutor Franz Fédier. While still an art student Bosshart returned to Turkey in 1975. From summer 1976, he spent two years on a scholarship at the Swiss Institute in Rome, Italy. In 1985 another scholarship from Stiftung Transkultur took him to Dakar, Senegal, for a year.

In 1990 Bosshart received a studio scholarship from the City of Zürich for New York City where he created his first larger works that included 16mm film strips and colour foil on printed paper.
They were to lead to the large-scale works mentioned above.

In more recent times, the artist has done less travelling. He spends his summers in Britanny where he creates small collages including treated and overpainted postcards, a recurrent feature in his oeuvre.

The artist's reminiscences and travel impressions enter his works directly and are often reflected with great precision. The current exhibition provides an opportunity to delve into Matthias Bosshart's universe and to become better acquainted with the artist.

Biography Matthias Bosshart

 

 

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Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Flugzeug - Zürich, 1984, paper, pencil, Acrylic colour and transparent paper on carton, 29,7 x 21 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Stars and Squares: blue, red and white - New York, 1990, printed paper, transparent coloured print and glue on carton, 50,8 x 38,2 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Famous American Movie Actresses - Zürich, 1991, 16 mm Film on printed paper, 35 x 50 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Au bord de la mer: Pres de Morgat - Bretagne, Plozévet, 2014, felt-tip, acrylic colour and pencil on modified postcard, 15 x 10,5 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Von Konya nach Ürgüp - Sarigerme, Türkei, 1973, watercolor- and gold-colour on paper, 22,5 x 33 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Strömungen - Eschlikon, 1967, bamboo plume, ink on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Kornblumenblüten - Eschlikon, 1966, watercolors on paper, 32,5 x 24 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Nach Maya Deren: Meshes of the afternoon - Basel, 1974, Newspaper, dispersion colour and pencil on carton, 37,3 x 29,4 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

untitled - Zürich, 1981, dispersion colour on modified Newspaper, 65 x 65 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Stars and circular motions: Orbit - New York, 1990, 16 mm on printed paper on carton, 50 x 36,8 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Giudizio di Salomone - Zürich, 1988, Postcards, printed carton and dispersion colour on graph paper, 42 x 29,7 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Schnee über Kyoto - Bretagne, Plouescat, 2011, Dispersion- and acrylic colour on newspaper on graph paper, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Au bord de la mer: Soleil Royal - Bretagne, Plozévet, 2014, Acryl-, Dispersion- and watercolors on paper, 21 x 27 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Der Hafen von Loctudy bei Sonnenaufgang - Bretagne, Plozévet 2015, Acryl- and Dispersion color on modified postcard, 14,8 x 10,5 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Nike von Samothrake - Zürich 1994, Dispersion color and modified postcard on carton, 29,7 x 21 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - La fuga di Jacula - Rom 1976, modified booklet cover, postcard and transparent adhesive strip, 17,8 x 12,6 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - 1938 - Bretagne, Plouescat 2011, Dispersion-, Acrylic- and paint on copy paper on graph paper, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Souvenir d'Amitié - Bretagne, Plouescat 2011, Dispersion-, Acrylic- and paint on copy paper on graph paper, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Nach Hokusai: Ostmeerweg von Kyoto nach Edo - Zürich 2015, water- and dispersioncolor on postcard, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Cross Roads - Bretagne, Plouescat 2009, Acrylic color on newspaper, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Saint Guénolé Penmarc'h (Finistère) Vue générale de la Côte de la Brûleuse de Goëmon - Bretagne, Plouescat 2009, Acrylic- and Dispersion color on copy paper, 29,7 x 42 cm

Matthias Bosshart: Works on paper (1965-2015)

Anniversary edition - Roma notturna - Rom 1977, postcard and coloured copy on carton, 42 x 29,7 cm