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Galerie Peter Kilchmann is pleased to present Side by Side, a new solo exhibition by Swiss artist Marc Bauer (*1975, Geneva; lives and works in Berlin and Zurich). The presentation in the gallery at Zahnradstrasse 21 reflects Bauer’s own queer perspective on friendship, passion, and intimacy. At its core, the exhibition explores not only the shared experience of closeness, freedom, and a carefree period of life, but also the social and personal significance of such moments of togetherness. Side by Side is closely connected to Bauer’s current solo exhibition, Marc Bauer. Fear Rage Desire, Still Standing, at the Kunstmuseum Basel. While it similarly engages with the construction of masculinity, it does so in a deliberately lighter, more playful manner.
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New works on paper and canvas, as well as wall paintings unfold throughout the space. The wall paintings were created by Marc Bauer in collaboration with Samuel Obst. Specially for the exhibition, Berlin-based artists Sin Maldita (Tim Roth) and Philipp Hülsenbeck developed a soundtrack: a remix of anthems from the contemporary gay scene.
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Emerging against a red pastel background, the three works on paper Solace and Joy (Pink and Blue), Solace and Joy (Together), and Solace and Joy (Yellow) (all 2026, 70 × 50 cm; pencil or pencil and watercolour on paper) focus on the delicate and intimate gestures of hands in contact. In one of the works, for example, Marc Bauer depicts a composition of four hands arranged to form a square. A thumb gently presses the skin beside a little finger, subtly shifting its surface. With remarkable precision and sensitivity, the artist renders veins, fingernails, folds of skin, tonal variations, and rings in pencil. Through a nuanced interplay of light and shadow, Bauer achieves an extraordinary sense of tactility and presence. A shirt sleeve, accented with fresh washes of yellow and orange watercolour, introduces a vivid chromatic counterpoint to the otherwise restrained composition. The frames of the works are crafted from brass. When touched without gloves, the metal gradually develops dark traces through oxidation. These marks serve as a metaphor for the fragility of friendship: if not tended to with care, encounters and experiences may leave lasting impressions that cannot easily be erased or reversed.
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Exhibtion view: Marc Bauer, Side by Side, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Switzerland, 2026. Photo: Sebastian Schaub.
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The room is further complemented by works depicting groups of figures seated in close proximity and engaged in conversation. Like the portraits and hand compositions in the first room, these drawings are based on photographic studies produced by the artist in his studio. Among the additional works presented are The Friends (Long Talks) (82.5 × 115 cm), the series Side by Side (all 36 × 51 cm), and Less than Zero (2026, 121 × 115 cm).
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The third room is an ode to the queer club culture of the 1990s. In a large-scale painting on canvas, Bauer depicts a waiter serving grapes at the club Labyrinth in Zurich. The work is inspired by a sequence from a video documenting the Labyrinth Schutzraumparty held on October 22–23, 1994. Prompted by this archival footage, Bauer created a series of additional works on paper in watercolour, charcoal, and pencil, which are installed on the opposing wall. Reflecting the aesthetic qualities of the historical video material, these drawings are rendered in a blurred and deliberately indistinct manner, evoking the fleeting nature of memory and mediated images.
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With Side by Side, Marc Bauer constructs a multilayered constellation of memory, archival material, and contemporary image-making. Bringing together reflections on intimacy, desire, and queer forms of sociability and celebration, the exhibition juxtaposes historical moments from a period when queer identities could rarely be lived openly with the artist’s contemporary perspective. In doing so, Bauer creates a space for collective reflection on the continuities and transformations of queer experience across time.
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Galerie Peter Kilchmann
Zahnradstrasse, 21, Zurich
, 12 June - 24 July 2026
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