Installation view of Bernheim, Zurich. Photo Courtesy: Berheim.
Zürich was unusually hot this June, and as temperatures rose past 30°C, so did the concentration of galleries programming, institutional traffic and collector visibility along the Rämistrasse. Crowned by the Kunsthaus’s David Chipperfield building, this road has demonstrated its capacity to be a central corridor for the arts throughout this busy Zürich Art Weekend and delivered a worthwhile and strategic prelude to the upcoming Art Basel.
This year’s edition brought together 73 institutions, galleries, and off-spaces across the city, offering a synthesis of the artists, collectors and market activity that will be shaping Basel and beyond. As much as it functions as a local celebration of the city that once saw the birth of Dadaism, Zürich Art Weekend has evolved into a vital calendar moment for the European art market. Several participating galleries use it to generate early visibility, while auction houses, notably Sotheby’s, now align major previews with this lively weekend. Demonstrably then, Zürich is a key location that takes center stage.
For anyone walking through the city’s various art clusters, Rämistrasse stood out. Home to a growing number of galleries, from long established names to new arrivals, the street runs parallel to Kunsthaus Zürich and serves as a physical and symbolic axis between commercial and institutional power in the city. Sotheby’s Zurich office, located on the same street, opened a preview of its upcoming June London auction to coincide with the Weekend. The preview included several highlights, among which Tamara Lempicka’s iconic nude La Belle Rafaëla (1927) stands out as a central piece, last seen at auction in 1985 it has already generated remarkable buzz. Visitors are thus once again reminded that Zürich is not a peripheral art city, but an increasingly strategic point in the broader European ecosystem.
The renewed interest in Rämistrasse is more than geographic, it reflects a larger recalibration of Zürich’s gallery landscape. With the decentralization of the past decade with galleries moving to Löwenbräukunst, Sihlquai, and former industrial zones, the visibility and density of Rämistrasse feels like a return to concentrated programming. For many gallerists proximity matters. It means easier access to collectors, to institutions, and to each other.
The programming across the street made a strong case for its own prominence. Galerie Eva Presenhuber presented a witty and layered group exhibition on their ground floor featuring Doug Aitken and Sylvie Fleury, among others. This last one standing out by adding the themes of ego and “egoïsme” to the show, a fitting humorous nod to the art world’s psychology. One gallery representative noted: “Overall, the gallery is delighted with the widespread interest and the large number of high-calibre visitors this edition of Zurich Art Weekend.”
Meanwhile at Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Travis Boyer’s paintings on velvet provided both a technical showcase and a delightful viewing experience. Boyer, born in 1979 in Texas, has worked with velvet for over a decade. He emphasized the precision required by the medium and the palimpsestic possibilities of it. Just down the road, Tobias Mueller Modern Art AG presented striking sculptures by the Brazilian artist Saint Clair Cemin, reinforcing the international dialogue taking place in the heart of Europe. For those following regional markets, this felt like a quiet echo of Brazil’s increasing visibility in the last years.
Mai36 Galerie offered one of the strongest and most consistent presentations across Zurich, with installations that added to the spectacle without losing out on depth or sophistication. Maia Ruth Lee’s work stood out through the eloquence of materiality subjected to simple but concise transformation. Like many others, Mai36 Galerie’s invitation extended beyond the weekend. Every conversation in Rämistrasse ended with a reminder of their upcoming Art Basel stand or satellite fair involvement.
At Fabienne Levy, which had just inaugurated its new location, the atmosphere was equal parts celebratory and ambitious. Though some spatial details were yet to be finished, the programming was confident. Works by several artists were on display, including several eye-catching pieces by 33 year old Carlo d’ Anselmi. The gallery’s decision to open in tandem with Zurich Art Weekend underscores the street’s market momentum.
Further up, Bernheim presented a compelling two artist exhibition featuring Kodai Ujiie and Denis Savary, that explored the boundaries between sculpture, design, and decorative arts. Director Pauline Renevier focused our conversation on the conceptual dialogue between the works, virtuously enriching the curatorial discourse with her own observations on the material density of the pieces.
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