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Sculpictor Diffusion - René Mayer

Switzerland

René Mayer at ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH 2026:
After Six Decades of Working behind the scenes, a Swiss Artist Steps into Public View

René Mayer will present a selection of paintings and sculptures at ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH, held from 8 to 10 May 2026 at Puls 5 in Zurich.

Born in 1947, Mayer began his artistic training at the School of Design in Basel. Since then he has built up an extensive body of work in painting and sculpture, marked by great formal freedom and consistency. Unlike many artists of his generation, he did not focus on visibility, market pressures or institutional expectations. Instead, Mayer has always safeguarded his artistic autonomy allowing his work "to evolve on its own terms".

It is only in recent years that this work has come into public view. In 2021, Mayer held his first exhibition in the Chapel of San Sebastiano in Bergolo (Italy). Further presentations in Italy, Switzerland and Turkey followed, including Imperceptible Shift at SAB Spazio Arte Bubbio and a retrospective at Galerie AtelierRoshi in 2025. At ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH his work now appears in a broader Swiss and international context.

The Zurich presentation brings together several key groups of works:
The series 'Imperceptible Shift' consists of abstract paintings incorporating hand painted casino chips, used as a metaphor for the reckless way in which our civilisation gambles with the planet.
Shown publicly for the first time, the series 'Sandpaper' (2012) is created on used industrial sanding belts, whose worn, abrasive surfaces become carriers of memory, resistance and time.
These works are complemented by sculptures:
'Viva Viva', an expressive terracotta series full of rhythm and collective energy, and 'Marmor and Granite', in which reduced forms incorporate themes such as relationship, duality and balance.
Mayer's appearance at ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH marks the late unveiling of a mature oeuvre that has been pursued with great consistency over decades After many years of working in away from the spotlight, this presentation offers a rare opportunity to encounter an artistic position shaped not by the quest for visibility, but by the meaning of the work itself.

René Mayer lives and works in Basel (Switzerland) and Bubbio (Italy).

The artist will be present at the opening of ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH on Friday, 8 May 2026, from 6 to 10 p.m., at booths 20 and 23.

Text source: Official press release from Sculpictor Diffusion/René Mayer (March 30, 2026).

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