Philippe Zumstein (b. 1973) lives and works in Geneva. Zumstein has shown at institutions such as Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Chaux-de-Fonds, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, CAN, Kunsthalle Palazzo.
The use of saturated and violent colors, overflowing paint and the deformation of matter are some of the elegant possibilities offered by the work of Philippe Zumstein as a means for breaking away from the canvas as an object. His first paintings, the Fat paintings, contained so much liquid paint beneath their surface that they seemed ready to explode at any moment. His more recent works, the Crash paintings, bear the stigmata of an accident. These works share a formal efficiency and a plastic refinement.
The artist questions the age we live in through our intimidating fascination for the design object which we sometimes hesitate to handle. He does so by adding a fault to his objects that reveal their fragility. The destiny of the object, condemned to beauty, is here united with the individual's destiny. Below the object's smooth and perfect appearance a chaotic truth lies buried; we cannot disregard it for long. Indeed, everything is destined to vanish but, prior to the final crash, we must create the illusion that this is not so. Customizing our cell phones and cars is not unlike exercising with the goal of maintaining our bodies in shape.
The use of saturated and violent colors, overflowing paint and the deformation of matter are some of the elegant possibilities offered by the work of Philippe Zumstein as a means for breaking away from the canvas as an object. His first paintings, the Fat paintings, contained so much liquid paint beneath their surface that they seemed ready to explode at any moment. His more recent works, the Crash paintings, bear the stigmata of an accident. These works share a formal efficiency and a plastic refinement.
The artist questions the age we live in through our intimidating fascination for the design object which we sometimes hesitate to handle. He does so by adding a fault to his objects that reveal their fragility. The destiny of the object, condemned to beauty, is here united with the individual's destiny. Below the object's smooth and perfect appearance a chaotic truth lies buried; we cannot disregard it for long. Indeed, everything is destined to vanish but, prior to the final crash, we must create the illusion that this is not so. Customizing our cell phones and cars is not unlike exercising with the goal of maintaining our bodies in shape.
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