Beni Bischof

After last year’s Berlin–Paris exchange with one of the most established and influential galleries in Paris, galerie denise rené, rive gauche, this year Sommer & Kohl will collaborate with one of the youngest and most dynamic non-commercial project spaces in Paris, The Institute of Social Hypocrisy. On the occasion of this exchange we are pleased to present new works by Beni Bischof.   In the past years, Beni Bischof  (*1976, lives and works in St. Gallen, Switzerland)  has become known for his striking, funny works. With much humour and an obvious disposition for chaos he uses painting, drawing, collage, sculpture and photo-manipulation. The artist is also the editor of “Laser-Magazine”, which he publishes approximately 6 times per year in an edition of 12 to 80 as photocopied fanzines. Despite a strong interest in current affairs, pop and underground, Bischof’s work cannot be reduced to one particular theme.   The artist’s intuitive approach is be driven by curiosity and a keen urge to produce. Often inspired by images from his own archive or purposefully collected materials, he develops unique, strangely distant realizations, which impress by their uncompromising subjectivity. Clichés are laid bare, the familiar is transformed into something strange. In the process times get mixed up. It may be that we are reminded of medieval, mystical illustrations, or we race through the present as if possessed. Sometimes the paintings defy interpretation and let us dwell in surreal worlds, another time Bischof tells everyday tales irritating in their banality, yet another time his works are highly political commentaries on our society. Fragments from his idiosyncratic universe appear in constantly new formations, impact upon seemingly insignificant public imagery and in this way catapult us through time and space. The messages are oddly familiar and at the same time hermetic, impenetrable and absurd. In any case they create a mentally and emotionally charged atmosphere, which develops a magic pull.

Beni Bischof
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