English
Deutsch
until 11.04. | #4920ARTatBerlin | Galerie Judin shows from 14. February 2026 (Vernissage: 13.02.) the exhibition Plein Soleil by the artist Zilla Leutenegger.
Galerie Judin presents Plein Soleil, Zilla Leutenegger’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.
The artist utilises the light-filled architecture of the main exhibition space, which was once built as a printing hall for the Tagesspiegel newspaper, combining installations, video projections and monotypes to transform the space into a sequence of experimental environments.
The exhibition unfolds as a psychological and spatial journey through the life of the artist’s alter ego Z, with light as a central thematic and formal element, not only conceptually but also architecturally, as the striking skylights have a decisive influence on the perception of the space.
The psychogram that Leutenegger draws with her installation focuses on the dialectic of light and shadow. Instead of presenting her alter ego as a fully articulated subject – the metaphorical source of light – the artist reveals its traces: the shadows cast by a life, its gestures and moods. The absent figure is hinted at through fragments and impressions, and we, the viewers, are invited to participate in the process of finding meaning. In the course of this guessing game, the viewers’ own projections and associations thus become part of the work and expand the field of shadows.
So let us immerse ourselves in this encounter. Like close friends or family members, we enter the character’s ‘home’ through the laundry room, a transitional space and intimate place that introduces us to the protagonist’s domestic cosmos. We bypass white trousers hanging on a clothesline, evoking the body of the absent character as they trace its contours. Poetic moments of distraction and concentration, of enjoyment of life and perseverance unfold throughout the installation. A tone of cheerful melancholy pervades the exhibition, acting almost like an acoustic undercurrent. Monotypes – unique prints made from mirror-inverted painted stencils – outline interior spaces and serve as a counterpoint to the outside world, which is primarily defined by the incoming light and the resulting play of shadows.
As in Leutengger’s entire oeuvre, all of her works captivate the viewer with her precise yet seemingly effortless lines. These lines articulate a poetry of the everyday, the small and the random: warm morning light falling through blinds, shadows on the walls coming to life and dancing. Fleeting moments are transformed by the artist into lasting forms. Just like the curtains in the mezzanine, which flutter incessantly in the wind, and candle flames that react to imperceptible air currents.
The finale of the parcours in the second room offers a rather ambivalent encounter. In a projection, the figure Z appears as a silhouette sitting on a high diving board, legs dangling freely. The image oscillates between tension and serenity, hesitation and playfulness. Here, too, the central theme of the exhibition is expressed: ambiguity is most evident in the realm of shadows, where meaning remains provisional and open to the viewer.
As in Leutenegger’s entire oeuvre, all of his works fascinate the viewer with their precise yet seemingly effortless lines. These lines articulate a poetry of the everyday, the small and the random: warm morning light falling through blinds, shadows on the walls coming to life and dancing. Fleeting moments are transformed by the artist into lasting forms. Just like the curtains in the mezzanine, which flutter incessantly in the wind, and candle flames that react to imperceptible air currents.
Zilla Leutenegger was born in Zurich in 1968 and is one of Switzerland’s best-known artists. Her work is characterised by a consistent refusal to commit to a single medium, although she always emphasises drawing – in particular her unmistakable, lively lines – as her central means of expression. For over three decades, Leutenegger’s works have been exhibited internationally in institutions such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Museum Franz Gertsch in Burgdorf, the Kunsthaus Zurich, the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, the Palais Populaire of Deutsche Bank in Berlin and the Osage Art Foundation in Hong Kong. The artist lives and works in Zurich and Graubünden.
Vernissage: Friday,13. February 2026 from 6 to 8 pm
Exhibition period: Saturday, 14. February 2026 – Saturday, 11. April 2026
To the Gallery
Title image caption: Zilla Leutenegger, Bilg Sleep, 2025 Photo Sebastian Schaub
Exhibition Zilla Leutenegger – Galerie Judin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
