Reto Boller (*1966 in Zurich, lives there) is one of the most inventive Swiss artists. He probes the boundaries between painting, architecture and object and goes beyond traditional expectations. His work has attracted international attention for many years. Since 2007, Reto Boller has held a professorship for painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart.
As part of the overall renovation of Langmatt, Reto Boller – alongside the artist duo Bigler/Weibel and Silvan Wegmann – was invited to participate in one of three process-based long-term art projects. Three different perspectives and artistic media accompany and document the structural changes during the approximately two-year overall renovation. During this time, snapshots will repeatedly be visible on the website and in the museum's newsletters as well as on social media. The projects will culminate in three cabinet exhibitions for the reopening of the Langmatt in spring/summer 2026.
Reto Boller's multifaceted spatial and material explorations are a perfect match for the Langmatt's renovation process. During this time, the listed building offers rare opportunities for the artist's distinct sensorium in dealing with space and material. Reto Boller will kick off the three processual projects with a small exhibition in autumn 2023. From the end of October, paintings and Asian ceramics, furniture and curtains, crystal chandeliers and carpet will have already disappeared from the 18ième room to provide opportunities for installation interventions to unfold. Artistic changes are also taking place in the Green Salon and the corridor. The familiar image of the Langmatt is transformed: for example, wall coverings have been removed and floors taped off, giving the impression that the renovation of the century-old villa has already begun. Reto Boller's mysterious interventions set the imagination in motion and herald the structural metamorphosis of Langmatt.
The artist will continue to follow the conversion process during the closure period and will be on site again and again to collect impressions and images. Another part of the artistic interventions will be on display in a cabinet exhibition for the reopening of the Langmatt in spring 2026. Thus the circle closes: in retrospect, not only the interventions are shown in context, but also the manifold changes of the Langmatt.
Main picture: Reto Boller, here, 2023, adhesive tape, light bulb, fleece, curtains, Museum Langmatt
