Artists

Valerie Favre

Press release

Galerie Peter Kilchmann proudly present Temps contre Temps, a taste of freedom, the fourth solo exhibition by Swiss artist Valérie Favre (*1959 in Evilard near Biel; lives and works in Neuchâtel and Berlin) - this year's winner of the esteemed Meret Oppenheim Prize. Like the rhythm of a metronome, the four never-before-exhibited series on display alternate on the walls in Rämistrasse. They tell a story of a liberated way of life and thus the liberation from restrictions, constraints and the emancipation of painting. Favre demonstrates this act of liberation in her painting technique, in her free brush work by combining pastose and glazed color application. Temps contre Temps, a taste of freedom is an attempt, or rather uncertain attempt to show the state of the research of the artist. 

‘’L’art consiste à libérer la vie que l’homme a emprisonnée.’’ – Gilles Deleuze. According to Deleuze, art has the power to liberate the life that man has imprisoned himself. With ‘’Knast (Jail)‘’, Favre has begun a new cycle of works. Just as in the sharp, restrictive sound of this word, people gaze at us from behind abstractly painted bars and report about limitations, restrictions and thus the word ‘jail’ in a broad meaning. For instance, through this series, the artist questions the invisibility of women in art and in our society. In that sense, deliberately breaks bars on a pictorial level. Valérie Favre paints one part of the works in this cycle with a pastose and the other with a glazed color application, a duality through which she explores her freedom as a painter.

Book Launch: October 19, 3 – 5 pm 

“Malerei. Ein Gespräch”, followed by a conversation between the artist and Axel Ruoff (published by Hatje Cantz, June 2024)