Overview

Bruno Jakob creates paintings that immediately engage the viewers. Based on the premise that pictures do not need to be visible in order to be real, Jakob has developed a body of work that radically questions our cultural faith in visual evidence.

Since the 1970s Bruno Jakob has investigated the invisible, the temporary and the mutable through the medium of painting. The specificity of his work lies in making use of atmospheric phenomena, natural processes and ephemeral “materials” such as energy, light, thought and brainwaves. The titles are assigned a narrative role, describing the painting process, with references to figures and techniques that describe the observed object.

 

In particular, his on-going series invisible paintings, challenges the true nature of appearance and announce the existence of images beyond the visible: water, brushed onto sheets of paper or other painting surfaces, leaves a trail prior to evaporating into the atmosphere. While Jakob’s works look like monochromes, they spring from a transfer of images or signs onto the surface. Painting thus becomes a performative act, even prior to being a process of transcription. Further, his painting performance are sometimes open to the public and accompanied by Hans Witschi at the piano.

 

Bruno Jakob's works have been exhibited internationally since 1988, particularly in his chosen hometown of New York. Works by the artist have been shown in countless solo and group exhibitions (including performative works - often performed with the Swiss artist and musician Hans Witschi), including Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (2022/2015), Helvetia Foyer, Basel, Switzerland (2020), Deutsches Haus, New York (2019), Kunsthaus Zofingen, Switzerland (2017), Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz, Switzerland (2016), Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland (2015), Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland (2012), Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland (2011) and MoMA New York (2010). In 2014, Bruno Jakob was awarded the Ricola Collection Prize, Laufen, Switzerland. In 2011, Bruno Jakob was invited to show two installations at the 54th Venice Biennale in the Arsenale and in the main pavilion (curated by Bice Curiger). Works by the artist can be found in the collection of the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Switzerland, the Ricola Collection, Switzerland, the collection of the Kunsthaus Lichtenstein or the Art Collection of the Swiss Confederation, to name a few. 

 

 

Selected works
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements Artificial Tension, 2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements Artificial Tension, 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Invisible Paintings Performances, 2024
    Invisible Paintings Performances, 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence , 2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence , 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2023/2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyperspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements, 2023/2024
  • Bruno Jakob, Nowhere but Somewhere, 2014
    Nowhere but Somewhere, 2014
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyberspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements 2013 + Aarburg, 2013 + 2024
    Again and Again and Again Pump the Cyberspace/Cyberpresence Daily Movements 2013 + Aarburg, 2013 + 2024
  • Bruno Jakob, The VisitorsSomewhere Now. Sky Cells. Flood of Thought. Untouchables., 2013
    The VisitorsSomewhere Now. Sky Cells. Flood of Thought. Untouchables., 2013
  • Bruno Jakob, Unusual Things Happen (It's all There), 2012
    Unusual Things Happen (It's all There), 2012
  • Bruno Jakob, Weisses Lächeln. 54. Biennale Venice (Invisible Painting), 2011
    Weisses Lächeln. 54. Biennale Venice (Invisible Painting), 2011
  • Bruno Jakob, Breath, time suspended, forever interrupted (Weisses Lächeln), 2011
    Breath, time suspended, forever interrupted (Weisses Lächeln), 2011
  • Bruno Jakob, Weisses Lächeln Over a period of time. Months. Energy and brainwaves still continuing. Visible and invisible. Thoughts of painted images. Thousands free and bloodied. Color as well as black and white. Silently captured and released. Surrounded in elegance, 2010
    Weisses Lächeln
    Over a period of time. Months. Energy and brainwaves still continuing. Visible and invisible. Thoughts of painted images. Thousands free and bloodied. Color as well as black and white. Silently captured and released. Surrounded in elegance,
    2010
  • Bruno Jakob, The Visitors / Tongue (Invisible Painting), 2008
    The Visitors / Tongue
    (Invisible Painting),
    2008
  • Bruno Jakob, The Visitors / Exalted, 2008
    The Visitors / Exalted, 2008
  • Bruno Jakob, Untitled (Horse)Invisible Painting / Brain, 2003
    Untitled (Horse)Invisible Painting / Brain, 2003
  • Bruno Jakob, Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Contributed to the Air / Zur Luft beigetragen, 1999
    Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Contributed to the Air / Zur Luft beigetragen, 1999
  • Bruno Jakob, Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Inaccessible Movement / Unnahbare Bewegung, 1999
    Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Inaccessible Movement / Unnahbare Bewegung, 1999
  • Bruno Jakob, Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Senseless (Still Collecting) / Sinnlos (Noch immer sammelnd), 1999
    Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Senseless (Still Collecting) / Sinnlos (Noch immer sammelnd), 1999
  • Bruno Jakob, Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Navel Juice / Nabelsaft, 1999
    Philosophy Escaped (Invisible Painting)Navel Juice / Nabelsaft, 1999
  • Bruno Jakob, Unseen (Portraits, Somebodies)(Invisible Drawing), 1998
    Unseen (Portraits, Somebodies)(Invisible Drawing), 1998
  • Bruno Jakob, Brain America: Race to the ImageSmoky Mountains (Invisible Painting), 1996
    Brain America: Race to the ImageSmoky Mountains (Invisible Painting), 1996
  • Bruno Jakob, Happy Nothing: Still Collecting, 1990/98
    Happy Nothing: Still Collecting, 1990/98
  • Bruno Jakob, Again and Again and Again Daily Movements Painted Desert , 1986/2024
    Again and Again and Again Daily Movements Painted Desert , 1986/2024
Selected exhibitions
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