Swiss gallerist Fabian Lang is a dynamic driving force behind the burgeoning Zürich arts scene. With a visionary approach and an instinct for entrepreneurialism, Lang has garnered recognition for his gallery’s acclaimed programme that features an international roster of artists. He has also spearheaded local initiatives that aim to elevate the city's stature within the global art world.
Born in Zürich, Lang’s art industry ascent has been propelled by his natural flair for identifying and creating opportunities within his realm. In 2010, he began an almost decade-long position at Victoria Miro where he played a pivotal role in launching the gallery’s space in Venice and developing its residency programme. During this time, he ran the project space 9b in Islington and oversaw an independent arts journal where they collaborated with emerging and progressive writers and gave a platform to younger artists alongside established names. During this time, he also travelled extensively,...carefully cultivating a vital network of collectors, curators and artists in preparation for the launch of his own eponymous gallery.
Galerie Fabian Lang launched during Zürich Art Weekend in 2019 in Kreis 1, the historical heart of Zürich. The city’s reputation as an artistic hub goes back to the early 1900s and rise of the avant-garde Dada movement, whose members famously convened at the Cabaret Voltaire. Throughout the century, the city centre has been enriched by cultural landmarks such as the Kunsthaus Zürich and National Museum Zürich, along with more contemporary venues including Luma Westbau and the Kunsthalle Zürich, and in the last five years, the arrival of several cutting-edge galleries.
During his time living in London, Lang became closely connected with the British art scene. He attributes his enduring interest in young British artists to the exceptional quality of the UK's art schools, which blend rich art historical traditions with boundary-pushing innovation. Consequently, he has introduced several British artists to Zürich including Mark Wallinger, Isabelle Young, Johnny Izatt-Lowry and Sarah Dwyer, whom he represents. The gallery’s international constellation of talent also includes Spanish artist Elena Alonso, French sculptor Raphaël Zarka and Swiss multimedia artist Kilian Rüthemann. Lang is always actively seeking creative opportunities beyond the gallery’s walls to push his artists’ profiles. In 2023, a pop-up exhibition of Young’s cinematic photographs, transformed the top floor of a Victorian building in London’s Soho, often used by the film industry, into a temporary exhibition space. Lang has also provided more established artists their first exhibitions in the city, such as Idris Khan and Annie Morris, and has exhibited work by several artists beyond its stable, including Stefan Brüggemann, Tobias Bradford, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Pia Camil, further exemplifying the gallery’s curatorial prowess and willingness to continue to challenge its limits.
Alongside the exhibition programme, Galerie Fabian Lang regularly participates in selected art fairs including the Armory Show in New York, Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, Artissima in Turin, and June Art Fair in Basel, consolidating its position as a rising force on the international circuit. This year, the gallery is also excited to feature in the Basel Social Club, presenting a monumental work by Kilian Rüthemann.
Beyond the gallery’s activities, Fabian Lang has ingrained himself in Zürich’s artistic fabric by pioneering the initiative Zürich 1. Uniting a consortium of 15 galleries located in the lively central district, Zürich 1 aims to fortify the identity of this gallery cluster and elevate Zürich as an art destination through a weekend of special exhibitions and events. The event offers the city a further opportunity, beyond Zürich Art Weekend, to draw in visitors to enjoy its rich cultural offering, whilst fostering a strong local sense of community.
Elena Alonso: Kind and Sharp
Galerie Fabian Lang will showcase new paintings and floor sculptures by Elena Alonso (b. Madrid, 1981) in an exhibition titled ‘Kind and Sharp’, named after her ongoing series of paintings that she has continued in this show. Alonso incorporates the languages of architecture, design and handicraft to cultivate a complex and uncertain terrain between geometric abstraction and organic representation. In ‘Kind and Sharp’, Alonso continues to redefine her own formal limits with her ambiguous yet personal iconography that displays precision and evokes a sense of vulnerability and openness.
Alonso’s works often contain an unsettling tension between the neat beauty of her compositions and the uncertainty of explaining exactly what one sees. At first glance, these mystical new works appear symmetrical, but a closer inspection reveals subtle differences that gently push the composition off balance. Many contain a series of concentric arcs that are reminiscent of architectural doorways whilst suggestions of sculptural cylindrical forms appear to float in their own atmosphere. Marble-textured orbs are also a recurring motif and recall her tactile memories of playing bolo palma – a game played using hand-carved wooden balls – in her grandparents’ Cantabrian town. Alonso honours these forms and surfaces that hold cultural and personal significance, whilst bestowing them with new meaning.
Entrada actualizada el el 13 may de 2024
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