Portrait Fischli Weiss

David Weiss  Peter Fischli 

 

Peter Fischli (*1952) and David Weiss (1946–2012) have created sculptures, videos, site-specific installations, projections and photographs. Their broad conceptual and artistic œuvre engages with the world of everyday life. With wit, subtlety, gentle irony and modesty, they question the mechanisms of artistic authorship, the value-added cycles of the art world, the symbolic value of artworks and the role of the viewer. Peter Fischli has continued the duo’s work alone since the death of David Weiss. The Zurich-based artists have been associated with the gallery since 1983.

 

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Fischli and Weiss often place particular focus on the seemingly banal. Their work distances itself from the materials and practices typical of contemporary art, turning instead to such distinctly non-professional artistic techniques as hobby sculpture, tourist photography, or recreational crafts and tinkering. One example is their Sausage Series (1979), for which Fischli and Weiss gleefully, almost childishly, turned an array of meat products, sausages, and cocktail gherkins into the protagonists of absurd narratives. Another is Suddenly this Overview (1981), which consists of two hundred small, “amateurishly” hand-sculpted figurines made of unfired clay depicting imaginary, deeply humorous scenes inspired by historical events, popular culture or the lives of the two artists themselves. Their film The Point of Least Resistance (1980/81) stars a costumed Fischli and Weiss performing as their alter egos Rat and Bear. The plot follows a bizarre sequence of events in their quest to “make it big” in the art world.

For their photo series Equilibres (1984–86), the artist duo arranged everyday objects into imaginative, precariously-balanced, temporary constructs that seemed destined to collapse at any moment. That idea became the basis for The Way Things Go (1987), a film where the fragile set-ups actually do collapse in moments of ecstatic release. Arrangements of car tires, garbage bags, chairs, plastic bottles, candles, balloons, and other objects are set in motion by a startling causal chain that creates a kind of garage domino effect—the hypnotic illustration of a playful, everyday philosophy.

For their influential project Questions (2000–2003), the artists projected philosophical, humorous and absurd questions onto exhibition walls. Series such as Visible World (1987–2001) or Flowers and Mushrooms (1997–2006) show the artists turning to photographic motifs and techniques that are often used by hobby photographers. Some of the duo’s most influential works include carved, astonishingly real-seeming polyurethane replicas of commonplace objects and studio utensils such as paint buckets, bottles, product packaging, sinks, or rubber boots. The simulated, phantom-like readymades not only turned the logic of the readymade on its head, they also appeared together in installations showing fictitious archives of alien memories and the everyday designs of bygone eras.

Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s works are the result of a complex, rigorous and disciplined studio practice. Their engagement with the ordinary thrives on references to art and philosophy, but also precise social reflection. The artists ultimately use their sophisticated strategies of exposed mediocrity to expertly re-perform our day-to-day lives and make them visible in a new way. Their work challenges viewers to rediscover what they believe they already know—and in doing so to come to recognize the seemingly insignificant trivialities that have been sedimented in our collective pre-consciousness and are more meaningful than one likes to think.

 

Peter Fischli David Weiss: HAUS
Sprüth Magers, Berlin, April 27–July 27, 2019
Voice over: Stanislaus von Moos
Video: Carolin Röckelein

Works
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Animal, 1986

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Animal, 1986
Polyurethane, cheesecloth and synthetic paint
55.8 × 96.5 × 58.4 cm
22 × 38 × 23 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to Work Better, 1991/2016

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to Work Better, 1991/2016
Installation view, Okayama Art Summit, 2016

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987
Wood, acrylic, aluminum, safety glass and paint
350 × 570 × 410 cm
137 7/8 × 224 3/8 × 161 3/8 inches

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibre Series, 1984

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibre (Series), 1984

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock, 2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock, 2012
Stone (rocks)
Dimensions variable

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Modern Housing Development, 1984

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Modern Housing Development, 1984
Unfired clay
8 × 32 × 22 cm
3 1/8 × 12 5/8 × 8 5/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Suddenly this overview, 1981–2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Suddenly this overview, 1981–2012
Peter Fischli David Weiss: How to Work Better, installation view, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, 2016

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Installation view, Venice Architecture Bienniale, 2013

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Installation view, Venice Architecture Bienniale, 2013

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988
Plaster
113 × 26.6 × 20.9 cm
44 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 inches

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Candle, 1986

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Candle, 1987
Cast rubber, black
27 × 15.5 cm
10 5/8 × 6 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Walls, Corners, Tubes, installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, 2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Walls, Corners, Tubes, installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, 2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Kanalvideo, 1992

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Kanalvideo, 1992
Video, color, no sound
62:30 min

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers and Mushrooms series), 1997/98

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers and Mushrooms Series), 1997/98

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Question projection, big), 1981–2001

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Question projection, big), 1981–2001
1.215 slides, 15 projectors + 8 dissolve units (questions in German, English, Italian, Japanese)
Dimensions variable

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Point of Least Resistance, 1981

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Point of Least Resistance, 1981
DVD, 4:3 PAL, color, sound
29:00 min

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09
2 rag puppets with skeletal structure made of iron wire, painted steel
Puppets: each 140 × 45 cm
Puppets: each 55 1/8 x 17 3/4 inches

More views
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Wurstserie, 1979

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Wurstserie, 1979
Series of 10 color photographs

More views
Details
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Animal, 1986
Polyurethane, cheesecloth and synthetic paint
55.8 × 96.5 × 58.4 cm
22 × 38 × 23 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Animal, 1986
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to Work Better, 1991/2016
Installation view, Okayama Art Summit, 2016

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to Work Better, 1991/2016
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to work better, 1991 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
How to work better, 1991
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987
Wood, acrylic, aluminum, safety glass and paint
350 × 570 × 410 cm
137 7/8 × 224 3/8 × 161 3/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987 (detail)
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, 2019


Installation view HAUS, Sprüth Magers, Berlin 2019, 1987
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, 2019


Installation view HAUS, Sprüth Magers, Berlin 2019, 1987
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Haus, 1987
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, 2019

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Installation view HAUS, Sprüth Magers, Berlin 2019, 1987
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibre (Series), 1984

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibre Series, 1984
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Natural Grace, 1984
Color photograph
40 × 30 cm
15 3/4 × 11 7/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Natural Grace, 1984
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Outlaws, 1984
Color photograph
40 × 30 cm
15 3/4 × 11 7/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Outlaws, 1984
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Triumphant Carrot, 1984
Silver gelatine print
40 × 30 cm
15 3/4 × 11 7/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Triumphant Carrot, 1984
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock, 2012
Stone (rocks)
Dimensions variable

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock, 2012
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Modern Housing Development, 1984
Unfired clay
8 × 32 × 22 cm
3 1/8 × 12 5/8 × 8 5/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Modern Housing Development, 1984
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Suddenly this overview, 1981–2012
Peter Fischli David Weiss: How to Work Better, installation view, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, 2016

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Suddenly this overview, 1981–2012
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Installation view, Venice Architecture Bienniale, 2013

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Installation view, Venice Architecture Bienniale, 2013
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988
Plaster
113 × 26.6 × 20.9 cm
44 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I , 1988
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I , 1988
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I , 1988
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I, 1988 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled I , 1988
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Candle, 1987
Cast rubber, black
27 × 15.5 cm
10 5/8 × 6 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Candle, 1986
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Walls, Corners, Tubes, installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, 2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Walls, Corners, Tubes, installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, 2012

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Kanalvideo, 1992
Video, color, no sound
62:30 min

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Kanalvideo, 1992
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers and Mushrooms Series), 1997/98

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers and Mushrooms series), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/20), 1997/98
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/20), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 1/15), 1997/98
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 1/15), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 1/93), 1997/1998
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 1/93), 1997/1998
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Funghi 28), 1997/98
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Funghi 28), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/5), 1997/98
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/5), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/13), 1997/98
Inkjet Print
74 × 107 cm
29 1/8 × 42 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Flowers 2/13), 1997/98
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Question projection, big), 1981–2001
1.215 slides, 15 projectors + 8 dissolve units (questions in German, English, Italian, Japanese)
Dimensions variable

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Untitled (Question projection, big), 1981–2001
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Point of Least Resistance, 1981
DVD, 4:3 PAL, color, sound
29:00 min

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Point of Least Resistance, 1981
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09
2 rag puppets with skeletal structure made of iron wire, painted steel
Puppets: each 140 × 45 cm
Puppets: each 55 1/8 x 17 3/4 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobile), 2008/09
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobilé), 2008/09 (detail)

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Rat and Bear (Mobile), 2008/09
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Wurstserie, 1979
Series of 10 color photographs

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Wurstserie, 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Fashion Show (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 13 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Fashion Show (Wurstserie), 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Moonraker (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 13 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Moonraker (Wurstserie), 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Pavesi (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 13 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Pavesi (Wurstserie), 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Accident (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (Series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 13 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
The Accident (Wurstserie), 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
In the Mountains (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 13 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
In the Mountains (Wurstserie), 1979
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Im Teppichladen (Wurstserie), 1979
Color photograph (series of 10)
24 × 33 cm
9 1/2 × 14 1/8 inches

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
At the Carpet Shop (Wurstserie), 1979
Details
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1 of 17

 

Current and Upcoming
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
© Peter Fischli David Weiss, Zurich 2023

World Classroom
Group Exhibition
Mori Museum, Tokyo
April 19–September 24, 2023

Since the 1990s, when the development of contemporary art began to be considered from multiple perspectives in different parts of the world, we have been seeing that contemporary art today goes far beyond the framework of arts and crafts and fine art in the school classroom. It is a composite field with connections to all subjects, including language and literature, arithmetic, science, and social studies. In each of these disciplines, researchers are exploring the “unknowns” of the world, delving into history, and making new discoveries and inventions from the past to the future in order to enrich our perception of the world. The stance adopted by contemporary artists that seeks to go beyond our preconceptions in a creative way is also connected to this exploration of these unknowns. In this sense, the contemporary art museum is something akin to a “classroom of the world” where we can encounter and learn about these unknown worlds.
World Classroom: Contemporary Art through School Subjects, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Mori Art Museum, is an attempt for us to encounter a world we have never seen or known from a wide variety of perspectives, using the subjects we learn at school as a gateway to contemporary art. Even though this exhibition is divided into sections such as “Language and Literature,” “Social Studies,” “Philosophy,” “Arithmetic,” “Science,” “Music,” and “P. E.,” each work, in fact, crosses over multiple subjects and domains. While over half the exhibited works will be drawn from the Mori Art Museum Collection for the first time ever, there will also be newly-commissioned artworks for this exhibition – altogether creating a “classroom of the world,” place of learning with works by some 50 artists/artist groups.

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Exhibitions at Sprüth Magers
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Should I paint a pirate ship on my car with an armed figure on it holding a decapitated head by the hair?
January 17–June 19, 2020
London

Should I paint a pirate ship on my car with an armed figure on it holding a decapitated head by the hair? is the fifth exhibition by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss at their London gallery. This exhibition will present a concise overview of the artists’ extraordinary transformations of the commonplace in the form of three seminal works from throughout their collaborative career.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss
HAUS
April 27–August 10, 2019
Berlin

HAUS is a solo exhibition by Fischli Weiss, the Swiss artist duo known since the 1980s for their films including Der geringste Widerstand (The Least Resistance) and ambiguous sculptural everyday objects.

At the core of this new exhibition is Haus (House), a work Peter Fischli and David Weiss first developed for Skulptur Projekte Münster in 1987 and subsequently showed in exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, New York and Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2016). This exhibition focuses on the architectural reference system at the heart of the artists’ work with a selection of sculptures and archival material.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Eine Ansammlung von Gegenständen
May 2–August 30, 2014
Berlin

The making of polyurethane objects has played a central role in the work of Peter Fischli and David Weiss for over 30 years. The objects themselves often depict utilitarian devices, tools or other everyday paraphernalia, all handcrafted and painted to be almost indistinguishable from the original. Boris Groys wrote that the practice of making the objects revives "the ethos of the artist as a working, creating craftsperson who once again represents the things of reality." Yet the exhibition of the polyurethane objects as artworks, carefully presented as if they were just mundane things, introduces layers of paradox, irony and humour.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss
March 2–April 13, 2013
Berlin

This solo presentation of work by Peter Fischli and David Weiss will display a cross-fading installation of photographs showing views of airports. Beside this work, four sculptures are on view. The artists' focus of artistic investigation is the unspectacular aspects of domestic life, employing a wide variety of creative means of expression, ranging from film, photography and artists’ books, to sculptures and multimedia installations. The artists adapt everyday objects and situations which they place – not without humour or irony – in an artistic context, thus raising philosophical and theoretical questions regarding the explanation of the world.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Walls, Corners, Tubes
October 10–November 10, 2012
London

In Walls, Corners, Tubes, the artists present a series of objects with geometrical bodies which have the form of walls, corners, and tubes and are made alternately of black rubber and unfired clay. Both the shapes of the objects and their titles such as Wand aus Ton ('Wall of Clay,' 2012) or Röhre aus Gummi ('Tube of Rubber,' 2012) recall functional elements, such as those often found at building supplies stores. Placed on high, white pedestals, the sculptures appear in various scales which distance them from their origin in the observed forms of reality. On the one hand, their dimensions are oriented towards the human body, so that they automatically relate to it like tools or items for everyday use. On the other hand, they become sculptures which, on a reduced scale, demonstrate an affinity to the objecthood of the Minimal Art of the 1960s.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Objects on pedestals
January 29–March 28, 2009
London

Sprüth Magers London is delighted to present Objects on Pedestals, a survey of sculpture works by acclaimed Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The exhibition includes a selection from the series Rubber Sculptures (1986–1988), which comprises a number of life-size black rubber casts of ordinary and commonplace objects, including a chest of drawers, a table, a candle and a cutlery tray. The exhibition also features a number of sculptures, all made in 2007 in unfired clay, which also depict normal and quotidian objects, such as a shoe or a jug, although on an exaggerated scale. Together, these two bodies of work reveal the artists’ ongoing fascination with the banal and absurd qualities of the everyday, and the materiality and tactility of mass consumption.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Sonne, Mond und Sterne
November 27, 2008–January 31, 2009
Berlin

Sonne, Mond und Sterne is a gallery-scale presentation of a project which originated in book form as a commission by the Swiss media conglomerate Ringier AG, to customise their annual report and turn it into a work of art.

The 2007 Ringier annual report consists of 40 pages of business data, and 800 pages of adverts. The adverts have been carefully selected and scanned by the artists from hundreds of newspapers and magazines that could be found at any newsstand in any part of the globalised marketplace. The adverts cover the whole spectrum of the lifestyle of the contemporary consumer, ranging from sport to travel and from fashion to family life. The adverts are carefully grouped and each image is positioned opposite a purposefully chosen companion image, so that each double-page spread forms a kind of diptych, revealing through association or juxtaposition an aspect of our mass culture of consumption.

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibres
May 15–July 28, 2007
Munich

The photographs Equilibres were created in the years 1984 and 1986. It is a series of 82 black-and-white and colour photographs showing assemblages of everyday objects. The attention is drawn to a dizzying construction, with gravity seemingly working in reverse, creating a state of suspension which cancels the weight and the value of the individual components. This is also summarized in the subheading of the Equilibres of Peter Fischli and David Weiss: „Am schönsten ist das Gleichgewicht, kurz bevor’s zusammenbricht.“ („Balance is most beautiful just before it collapses.“)

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Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Equilibres
October 12–October 18, 2006
London

The photo works of EQUILIBRES were created in the years 1984/85. It is a series of black-and-white and colour photographs showing assemblages of everyday objects. A smaller selection was presented for the first time in 1985 in the exhibition STILLER NACHMITTAG (QUIET AFTERNOON) at the Cologne gallery of Monika Sprüth, at the Kunsthalle Basel and at the Groningen Museum, accompanied by the artists’ book of the same title. Precarious and often on the verge of collapse, the photographs with their suggestive titles are reminiscent of thought experiments or experiments in form and evoke the familiar Surrealist image of the “chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissection table” (Lautréamont). The titles alternately function as accurate summaries of the sculptural situation, as in the case of the Schlummerschlinge (slumber snare) made of wood and a hose, as humorous suggestions, or as anecdotic descriptions.

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Mondi Possibili
Thea Djordjadze, Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Claus Föttinger, Thomas Grünfeld, Jenny Holzer, Stefan Kern, Joseph Kosuth, Louise Lawler, Michail Pirgelis, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Thomas Scheibitz, Andreas Schulze, Cindy Sherman, Rosemarie Trockel, Franz West
January 17–April 7, 2006
Cologne

As part of the PASSAGEN, the supporting programme of the International Furniture Fair in Cologne, at the beginning of the year Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers present a new edition of the exhibition “Mondi Possibili”. The works on display deal with the subject of furniture from a variety of angles: as citation, as homage, as adaptation, or as copy. Others are usable objects that hardly differ from their reference objects in the domain of design or furniture.

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Malerei 7
Peter Fischli  David Weiss, George Condo, Axel Kasseböhmer, Frances Scholz, Andreas Schulze, Walter Dahn, Siegfried Anzinger, Thomas Scheibitz
October 30, 2003–January 31, 2004
Cologne

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Shadow and Light
Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Matthew Barney, George Condo, Walter Dahn, Olafur Eliasson, Martin Fengel, Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Dan Flavin, Sylvie Fleury, Gilbert & George, Dan Graham, Thomas Grünfeld, Andreas Gursky, Stefan Hirsig, Jenny Holzer, Axel Kasseböhmer, Stefan Kern, Karen Kilimnik, Astrid Klein, Louise Lawler, Anne Loch, Paul Morrison, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Bruce Nauman, Manuel Ocampo, Nam June Paik, Hirsch Perlman, Lari Pittman, Barbara Probst, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Robert Ryman, Frances Scholz, Andreas Schulze, Cindy Sherman, Paul Sietsema, Rosemarie Trockel, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Christopher Wool, Martin Wöhrl, Philip-Lorca diCorcia
July 26–August 31, 2003
Salzburg

Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers will open a temporary space in Salzburg together with their London partner Simon Lee for the duration of the Salzburg Festival. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that the galleries are traditionally closed in August and that exhibition operations are shut down, but at the same time cultural life is at its peak in Salzburg, not far from our Munich location. It makes sense to contribute something to the cultural climate with a precisely formulated group exhibition and at the same time to reach a sophisticated international audience.

20th Anniversary Show
John Baldessari, Alighiero Boetti, George Condo, Walter Dahn, Thomas Demand, Thea Djordjadze, Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Sylvie Fleury, Andreas Gursky, Jenny Holzer, Gary Hume, Axel Kasseböhmer, Karen Kilimnik, Astrid Klein, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Nina Pohl, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Frances Scholz, Andreas Schulze, Cindy Sherman, Rosemarie Trockel, Andrea Zittel, Philip-Lorca diCorcia
April 25–October 18, 2003
Cologne

In 1983, Monika Sprüth opened her Cologne based gallery with a solo show by Andreas Schulze. Starting from the idea to establish a forum for young and unknown artists, the central focus of the gallery concept was developed in the discourse of the 80s. The gallery program was completed by recourses to artistic attitudes of the last 40 years. This research, motivated by reflection on contemporary art history, was more and more realized in cooperation with Philomene Magers who directed her Bonn gallery since 1992. After a few years of loose cooperation, Monika Sprüth Gallery and Philomene Magers Gallery aligned with each other after, and together the Monika Sprüth / Philomene Magers Gallery opened up in Munich in 1999.

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Things
Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Rosemarie Trockel, Richard Artschwager
November 8–December 20, 2002
Munich

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
November 6, 1998–February 13, 1999
Cologne

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
Flughafen 1988-98
January 28–April 18, 1998
Cologne

Ausblick
Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Andreas Gursky, Louise Lawler, Vincenzo Castella
July 4–August 30, 1997
Cologne

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Peter Fischli  David Weiss
May 5–July 29, 1995
Cologne

Tutto Tondo
Curtis Anderson, Guglielmo Aschieri, Donald Baechler, John Baldessari, Ilaria Bona, Angela Bulloch, George Condo, Walter Dahn, Jürgen Drescher, Peter Fend, Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Anne Loch, Piero Manzoni, Annette Messager, A. R. Penck, Gerhard Richter, Salvo, Andreas Schulze, Rosemarie Trockel
February 4–March 13, 1993
Cologne

Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate
Peter Fischli  David Weiss Estate

Künstler der Galerie
Peter Fischli  David Weiss, Rosemarie Trockel, George Condo, Axel Kasseböhmer, Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Anne Loch, Andreas Schulze, Thomas Wachweger, Milan Kunc, Ina Barfuss
June 13–July 15, 1987
Cologne

Press

Allein ist immer auch zu zweit
Die Welt, review by Gesine Borcherdt, April 27, 2019

Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Artforum, review by Claire Bishop, April 1, 2016

The Indiscreet Charm of Fischli and Weiss
Art in America, review by Nancy Princenthal, April 2016

Sollen wir belegte Brote mitbringen?
Die Welt, review by Hannes Stein, February 25, 2016

What Is the Diameter of the Earth?’ and ‘Why Is the Earth Not a Cube?’: The Entropic, Liberating Power of Fischli and Weiss
Vulture, review by Jerry Saltz, February 16, 2016

Playfully Poking Pieties
The New York Times, review by Ken Johnson, February 5, 2016

Biography

Both born in Zurich, Peter Fischli (*1952) and David Weiss (1946–2012) met in 1977 and began their artistic collaboration shortly after, in 1979. Their artwork has been the subject of many prominent solo exhibitions around the world including shows at Aspen Museum of Art (2017), Art Institute, Chicago and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2017/18), Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2016), Serpentine Gallery, London (2014), 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2010), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2009) and retrospectives at the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2008), Kunsthaus, Zurich (2007) and Tate Modern, London (2006). Their major solo show How To Work Better in 2016 was presented at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and travelled to Museo Jumex, Mexico City in 2017.

Peter Fischli
Education
1976–77 Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna
1975–76 Accademia di Belle Arti, Urbino
Shows (before the collaboration with David Weiss)
1978 Group Exhibition, Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna
David Weiss
Education
1964–65 Master course in sculpturing, School of Applied Arts, Basel
1963–64 Preparatory course, School of Applied Arts, Zurich
Shows (before the collaboration with Peter Fischli)
1979 Galerie Gugu Ernesto, Cologne
1979 Galerie t’Venster, Rotterdam
1976 Galerie Stähli, Zurich
1975 Up and Downtown, Edition Stähli, Zurich
1975 The Desert is Across the Street, Galerie Stähli, Zurich /de Appel, Amsterdam (mit / with Urs Lüthi und / and Elke Kilga)
1974 Drei Geschichten, Edition Stähli, Zurich
1970 Sketches, Edition Toni Gerber, Bern (mit / with Urs Lüthi, Text: Jean-Christoph Ammann)
Filmography
2008/10 Parts of a Film with Rat and Bear, video, color, 54 min, 3 parts
2003 Hunde, DVD, color, sound, loop
2001 Büsi, DVD, color, 6 min
1995 Arbeiten im Dunkeln, color, 96 min
1992 Kanalvideo, VHS Videotape, color, no sound, 62:30 min
1987 Der Lauf der Dinge, 16mm, color, sound, 30 min
1983 Der rechte Weg, 16 mm, color, sound, 52 min
1981 Der geringste Widerstand, 8 mm to 16 mm, color, sound, 30 min
Awards, Grants and Fellowships
2010 Wolfgang-Hahn-Preis, Cologne
2006 Roswitha-Haftmann-Preis, Zurich
2003 Golden Lion of the 50th Biennale di Venezia, Venice
2000 Günther-Peill-Preis, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren
1994 Visual Arts Award of Zurich
1993 Prix d'Art Contemporain de la Banque Cantonale de Genève, Geneva
1993 Prix de la Banque Hypothécaire du Canton de Genève, Geneva
1989 Prix Caran d'Ache Beaux-Arts, Geneva
1988 Study Award DHA for Der Lauf der Dinge
1985 Federal Scholarship, Bern
1984 Scholarship, Rapperswil
1983 Study Award DHA for Der rechte Weg
1982 Federal Scholarship, Bern
Public Collections
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Cleveland Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
Glenstone Collection, Potomac, MD
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, CT
Julia Stoschek Collection, Dusseldorf
Kunstmuseum Basel
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
Kunsthaus Zürich
MACBA, Barcelona
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museo Raina Sofia, Madrid
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum Boijmans Rotterdam
Rubell Museum, Miami
Sammlung Goetz, Munich
Tate, London
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane