John Armleder

John Armleder was born in Geneva in 1948, where he lives and works.


His career spans five decades and synthesises many of the competing aesthetic developments associated with that period. Student of Fluxus in Geneva in the 1960s, and founder of the Ecart group, Armleder was later, in the 1980s, associated with Neo-Geometric Conceptualism. He is known for the variety of his work, which combines Fluxus spirit and abstract painting, readymade and sculpture, performance and room-size installations. As a painter, sculptor and performance artist, Armleder constantly asks questions about what art is, what it can do, and what art is allowed. From room-size installations to abstract paintings, from geometrical constructivist paintings to furniture sculptures and pattern-strewn wallpapers, his art admittedly takes on attributes of Suprematist painting, Minimalist sculpture, Concrete Art and Dada readymades, among other movements.


His work is in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Long Museum, Shanghai, China; Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Museion Foundation - Modern and Contemporary Art Museum, Bolzano, Italy; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Annik Wetter 2019 11 05 low

Biography

Solo exhibitions
Year
Country, Exhibition Name, Location
2026
CH, OBSERVATOIRE, MAH Musée d'art et d'histoire de Geneve, Geneva
2024
I, On ne fait pas ça, MASSIMODECARLO, Milano
CH, ENCORE TROP, Centre d’Édition Contemporaine, Geneva
2023
CH, Experiences, Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp, Cully
F, Yakety Yak, MRAC Occitanie
CH, Pour la planète, Palais Galerie, Neuchâtel
I, Oculus, Noire Gallery , Turin
2022
D, Solid Coated, Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin
CH, John Armleder – Furniture Sculptures, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, St. Moritz
2021
F, John Armleder, MASSIMODECARLO Pièce Unique, Paris
PRC, Again, Just Again, Rockbund Art Museum
PRC, Sequitur, Almine Rech Gallery
2020
The John Armleder and Rob Pruitt Show, Massimo De Carlo, VSpace
F, White Plate, White Cup, Galerie Jean Brolly
B, It Never Ends, Kanal Centre Pompidou
HK, Clown’s Way, MASSIMODECARLO, Hong Kong
B, Iso-cèle, in collaboration with Rectangle, Hôtel Manos Premier, Brussels
2019
USA, Spoons, moons and masks, Aspen Art Museum
CH, Quicksand II, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (MAMCO)
USA, Sh/Ash/Lash/Splash, David Kordansky Gallery
D, John M Armleder, Schirn Kunsthalle
2018
F, John M Armleder, Almine Rech Gallery
I, 360° Curated by Andrea Viliani, Silvia Salvati, Madre - Museo d'arte contemporanea Donnaregina
I, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, Museion
CH, Déjà, Galerie Andrea Caratsch
CH, Sans Titre, Gare Cornavin - passage Montbrillant
2017
F, À rebours, La Salle de Bains
USA, John M Armleder Curated by Nicolas Trembley, Almine Rech Gallery
I, Stockage, Istituto Svizzero di Roma
I, Better, Quasi, Massimo De Carlo
UK, RCHX, Massimo De Carlo, London
IT, Split! Curated by Andrea Viliani, Museo e Real Bosco Di Capodimonte
Group exhibitions
Year
Country, Exhibition Name, Location
2026
I, Musa Curated by Beatrice Bertini e Benedetta Acciari, Casa Italia - Triennale Milano, Milan
2024
ROK, A Drawing A Day, MASSIMODECARLO Seoul Studio, Seoul
F, John Armleder, Domenico Gnoli, MASSIMODECARLO Pièce Unique, Paris
F, Renverser la tâche, Galerie Catherine Issert, Saint-Paul-de-Vence
CH, Never-Nevermore, Lovay Fine Arts,, Genève
2023
CH, Biennale Crans Montana, Guarda Golf Hotel & Residence, Crans Montana
I, Room Service, MASSIMODECARLO, Milano
USA, 20, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
D, UNTIEFEN, Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Sindelfingen
CH, Experiences, Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp, Cully
CH, De Albrecht Dürer à Andy Warhol. Chefs-d’œuvre de la Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, MASI Lugano, Lugano
F, Retroperturbations, Atheneum, Centre culturel de l’Université de Bourgogne avec le Consortium Museum, Dijon
CH, NEO-GEO +, 1986-2018 : une sélection dans la collection du FCAC, Société des Arts, Palais de l’Athénée, Geneva
F, Parler avec elles, Frac MÉCA, Bordeaux
2022
CH, &, MAMCO Genève
I, Winter Wunderkammer, MASSIMODECARLO, VSpace
I, InterAction, Fondazione Made in Cloister, Napoli
A, What Can Artists Do Now?, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Vienna
I, Winter Wunderkammer, MASSIMODECARLO, VSpace
CH, Open House, Genthod, Genève
CH, Geometric Opulence, Museum Haus Konstruktiv
PRC, Reflections: Party Fiction, WOAW gallery
2021
I, X_Minimal, Cassina Projects, Milano
CH, Môtiers - Art en plein air
CH, Open House, Genthod
F, Un Hiver à Gstaad Paris, Galerie Almine Rech
D, Ich hab im Traum die Schweiz Gesehn, Galerie Tan
I, Antonio's Dream: A Journey Through Art and Textile, Villa Olmo
B, It Never Ends - Part 2, Kanal Centre Pompidou
I, Il sogno di Antonio: un viaggio tra arte e tessuto, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como
PRC, Light Falls, Blanc Art Group
I, Villa Chiuminatto, Villa Chiuminatto, Torino

Public collections

Country
Location
Austria
Sammlung Ludwig/Museum Xx. Jahrhundert, Wien
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Wien
China
Long Museum, Shanghai
Denmark
Kunstmuseum, Aarhus
Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek
France
Centre National d'Art et de la Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris
FNAC - Fond National d’Art Contemporain, Paris
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Bourgogne, Dijon
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Bretagne, Châteaugiron
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Grand Large, Houts-de-France
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Pays de Loire, Carquefou
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain, Alsace
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain, Aquitaine
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain, Artothèque du Limousin
FRAC - Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain, Nord-Pas de Calais
Le Consortium, Dijon
Les Abattoirs de Toulouse, Toulouse Artothèque de Caen, Caen
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Musée de Peinture et de Sculpture, Grenoble
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
Germany
Daimler Chrysler Contemporary, Berlin
Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar - Neues Museum, Weimar
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Städel Museum, Frankfurt
Weimar Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst & Medienmuseum, Karlsruhe Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Greece
Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens
Iceland
Nýlistasafni - The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
Italy
Capodimonte Real Bosco Museum, Napoli
Museion Foundation - Modern and Contemporary Art Museum, Bolzano
Trevi Flash Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Trevi
Lebanon
Aishti Foundation, Beirut

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