Image: Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich
‘Wolfgang Laib and the Collection of Kunsthaus Zürich’, part of the museum’s ReCollect! series, remains on view through 4 October 2026.
The exhibition brings Laib’s work into dialogue with around 30 works from the Kunsthaus Zürich Collection, spanning the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Artists represented in the collection selection include the circle of Fra Angelico, Matteo di Giovanni, Claude Monet, Ferdinand Hodler, Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Mark Rothko, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Lee Ufan.
Laib has created reduced works using pollen, beeswax, milk, rice and stone since the late 1970s. The presentation comprises around 50 key works, including a large-scale pollen work, a Brahmanda, Milkstone, Ziggurat, a walk-through wax room, rice houses and a lacquer stair, alongside sculptures, drawings and photographs. It also includes Asian art, including a Jain marble statue of Jina Rishabha on loan from the Museum Rietberg.
Laib curated the exhibition with Philippe Büttner, Senior Curator Collection. An artist talk, ‘Berührung des Essenziellen’, with Laib and Büttner is scheduled for 2 October.
