Jeff Wall

28 January – 21 April 2024

The Fondation Beyeler is devoting a comprehensive solo show to the internationally renowned artist Jeff Wall (b. 1946). It is the first such show of his work in Switzerland in almost two decades and has been created in close collaboration with the artist.

Since the late 1970s Wall has contributed significantly to establishing photography as an autonomous medium and is regarded as the founder of “staged photography”. The Canadian mostly generates large-format photographs intricately and subtly composed from numerous individual shots: often inspired by daily life and art history, his images resemble carefully crafted film stills.

The works on show in the exhibition include Wall’s famous transparencies displayed in lightboxes, along with black-and-white photographs and colour photographic prints. In each of the eleven rooms, more recent works forge a rich thematic and formal dialogue with iconic early pieces. The exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler will also feature several new works on public view for the very first time.

Bringing together 55 works from international museums and private collections and from Jeff Wall’s own holdings, the survey show takes a new look at the work of this important artist.

Credits: All works by Jeff Wall
After 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue, 1999-2000, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel , © Jeff Wall
A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993, Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland, © Jeff Wall
Volunteer, 1996, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel , © Jeff Wall
In the Legion, 2022, Courtesy of the artist, © Jeff Wall
Boy falls from tree, 2010, Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, gift from the President 2012, on permanent loan to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, © Jeff Wall
Maquette for a monument to the contemplation of the possibility of mending a hole in a sock, 2023, Courtesy of the artist, © Jeff Wall
The Thinker, 1986, Courtesy of the artist, © Jeff Wall
Milk, 1984, Collection FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, © Jeff Wall
Staircase & two rooms, 2014, Courtesy Gagosian, © Jeff Wall
Insomnia, 1994, Courtesy of the artist, © Jeff Wall

Animation: eyeloveyou GmbH

Music: Janiv Oron