From 3 October 2025, the Kunsthaus Zürich, in collaboration with the German artist Wolfgang Laib (b. 1950 Metzingen), is staging an exhibition of works by Laib along with selected pieces from the collection of the Kunsthaus, as part of the ‘ReCollect!’ series. Laib is one of the most important artists of our time, and has exhibited in numerous major museums, exhibition galleries and historic buildings in Europe, the US and Asia.
Since the late 1970s, Wolfgang Laib has developed an artistic language that is uniquely his own. He uses natural materials such as pollen, beeswax, milk and stone to create works through which, in Harald Szeemann’s words, he ‘reveals immeasurable inner spaces through the smallest sculptural gestures’. The content of his art has evolved against the backdrop of various literary, philosophical and spiritual traditions, particularly from Europe and Asia. In formal terms, Laib employs a clear, pared-down language that is closely allied to the development of modern art, mainly in Europe and the US. In recent years, Laib has sometimes installed his works in significant church spaces in Italy, where they met architecture and artworks from the 6th century to the Renaissance. Now, similar ‘transhistorical’ encounters with works by Wolfgang Laib are taking place in the museum for the first time as part of the ‘ReCollect!’ series, as they meet outstanding masterpieces from the Collection, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. These juxtapositions open up a new perspective on both Laib’s art and the Kunsthaus’s own holdings.
The exhibition can be seen on the first floor of the Müller building, an area which will be consistently used for dialogues with the Collection and contemporary art in years to come. Laib has known the Kunsthaus Collection since he was a child – its influence on him is mirrored by that of the Museum Rietberg, which he has also visited often. In line with the ‘ReCollect!’ concept, Wolfgang Laib acted as both artist and curator, and developed the exhibition in dialogue with Senior Curator Collection Philippe Büttner, who oversaw a major Laib retrospective at the Fondation Beyeler back in 2005.
