Louisa Gagliardi’s Guide to Zürich
Louisa Gagliardi, Visitors, 2024, 170 x 245 cm. Image courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber.
Louisa Gagliardi is a Swiss, Zürich-based artist best-known for her monumental dreamlike paintings that juxtapose contemporary figures and symbols and surrealist visions.
While predominantly recognised as a painter, the process of her work is far from traditional, drawing on digital processes to create uncanny compositions with “magpie eclecticism” that speak to our highly mediated lives. Like Magritte, Gagliardi’s images encompass spectres that haunt the reliability of visual representations, questioning the nature of reality.
Installation view of Louisa Gagliardi, Many Moons at Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana © MASI Lugano, 16 February – 20 July 2025. Photo Luca Meneghel.
During Zürich Art Weekend, Gagliardi, who has been described as “one of the most interesting figures on the Swiss contemporary art scene,” will be exhibit a new series of works titled Reunion at Hotel Baur au Lac.
A two hour train ride away Many Moons – Gagliardi’s first institutional solo show in Switzerland is open at MASI Lugano. Celebrating the exhibition and the publication of the accompanying book, Gagliardi will speak alongside the exhibition curator and publisher, at her gallery Galerie Eva Presenhuber on Saturday, June 14, 2pm, which is on Art Guides World’s curated itinerary.
International exhibitions of her work include at Antenna Space, Shanghai; Swiss Institute, New York; and National Gallery, Prague; with accolades ranging from inclusion on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Arts List, and two shortlists for the Swiss Art Prize.
Image credits: (1) Portrait of Louisa Gagliardi. Photography by Flavio Karrer. Image courtesy of the artist. (2, 3, 4) Louisa Gagliardi, Reunion (Room 5), Reunion (Room 6), Reunion (Room 10), from the exhibition, Salon I and II, Hotel Baur au Lac, Talstrasse 1, Zurich from June 16 – July 23, 2025. All images courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber.
Gagliardi embodies her work in the sense she enjoys the alluring instagram-ready lifestyle comprising glamorous art-selfies, rooftop gallery parties, and photogenic cuisine. Art Guides World is salivating at the prospect of Louisa Gagliardi’s guide to Zürich, but we hope it uncovers some of the realism behind the image too – tanke, mèrssi Louisa!
☉ Which elements of Zürich’s landscape resonate with your work?
Water and reflections are quite important in my work. In Zurich we are very fortunate to have the lake and the river. In the summer you can just jump in the river throughout the city, it’s amazing.
☉ Throughout and surrounding the city, what are the places that don’t fail you?
I’m a big fan of Trix + Robert Hausmann, and if most people know the Kronenhalle Bar, another gem they designed has recently reopened, the Da Capo Bar in the train station. “Milieu” has the best cocktail.
☉ What do you look forward to during ZAW?
A lot of friends from all around come to town during the ZAW so it’s always exciting. I’m also looking forward to seeing Franz West at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Klara Lidén at Kunsthalle Zürich and Mitchell Anderson’s show Starship Troopers at Binz 39.
Image credits: (1) Louisa Gagliardi, Roundabout, 2023, 270 x 360 cm, (2) Louisa Gagliardi, Revealing, 2022, 140 x 180.5 cm (3) Louisa Gagliardi, The Sleeper Slept, 2024, 140 x 120 cm. All images courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber.
