Uwe Wittwer. Glass is cracking silently

Uwe Wittwer (*1954 Zurich), Bühne, 2022, aquarelle sur papier, 126,8 x 112 cm, collection de l’artiste © Uwe Wittwer

From 1 May 2026to 9 August 2026

Opening 30 April 2026

Avant que le verre ne cède (Glass is cracking silently) is the first monographic exhibition in French-speaking Switzerland devoted to the contemporary Zurich artist Uwe Wittwer (born 1954). The exhibition presents a selection of monumental watercolours, highlighting several emblematic series from his practice.

Fascinated by the mechanisms of perception, memory, and recollection, Uwe Wittwer develops an artistic approach grounded in subtle compositional shifts, image distortions, and symbolic associations that weave together collective and intimate references. Acting as a meticulous investigator, he delves into archival material to uncover fragments of an often troubling past, confronting the darker chapters of history such as Switzerland’s colonial legacy, the destruction of cultural heritage, and the Second World War.

Art history occupies a central place in Wittwer’s thinking. Through an ongoing dialogue with historical works—particularly Renaissance drawings and engravings—he questions his own practice, situated in a fertile tension between appropriation and reinterpretation.

The notions of erasure, rupture, and destruction permeate Wittwer’s work both thematically and formally. By probing the expressive potential and limitations of each medium, he creates powerful images in which memory and apparition, absence and presence, converge.

An exhibition curated by Marie Gaitzsch, Curator of Fine Arts, and Margaux Farron, Assistant Curator.

Gallery

Uwe Wittwer (*1954), Porträt, 2013, aquarelle sur papier, 180 x 154 cm,
collection de l’artiste © Uwe Wittwer, Galerie Judin, Berlin, photographie :
Highlevel, Berlin

Uwe Wittwer (*1954), Schlacht nach Uccello / Battle after Uccello [Bataille
d’après Uccello], 2007, aquarelle sur papier © Uwe Wittwer, Collection
particulière, Suisse, photographie : Julien Gremaud

Uwe Wittwer (*1954 Zurich), Bühne, 2022, aquarelle sur papier, 126,8 x 112 cm,
collection de l’artiste © Uwe Wittwer, Galleria Monica De Cardenas, Milan,
photographie : Conradin Frei

Die Buchhalterin, [La comptable], 2018, aquarelle sur papier, 54 x 74 cm © Uwe
Wittwer, collection particulière, Zurich, photographie : Conradin Frei

Publication

Uwe Wittwer. Glass is cracking silently

To mark the exhibition, a publication is being released, co-published by the Musée Jenisch Vevey and Hirmer Verlag (Munich). The book contains illustrations of all the works on display in the exhibition, as well as three essays that explore the symbolic and historical significance of Uwe Wittwer’s work. The volume concludes with an interview by Jacqueline Burckhardt, in which the artist reveals more about his career, his working methods and his sources of inspiration.

Format 30.5 × 22.2 cm

Edited by Marie Gaitzsch

Joint publication by Musée Jenisch Vevey and Hirmer Verlag

Graphic design: Onlab Studio

Authors: Jacqueline Burckhardt, Nathalie Chaix, Margaux Farron, Marie Gaitzsch, Enrique Martinez Celaya and Rahel Schrohe

Retail price: CHF 49

Editions Musée Jenisch Vevey-VFO

To mark the exhibition, a collaboration between the publisher VFO (Zurich) and the museum has enabled the production and printing of 22 copies of four previously unpublished prints by Uwe Wittwer.

These are available for purchase in the museum shop and on the website of the publisher Éditions VFO, with the aim of strengthening artistic ties between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland. One copy of each print will be added to the museum’s collections.

These prints are part of the series ‘Die Mission’, a selection of which is on display at the Musée Jenisch Vevey.

Retail price of the Musée Jenisch Vevey special edition: CHF 500

Retail price of the other editions: CHF 750