Reto Pulfer (* 1981 in Bern) is a self-taught artist who creates installations made from fabrics, encompassing painting, sculptures, fictional writings, plants, natural dyes, textile craft, soundscapes, and performances. Pulfer lives in the Uckermark region of Germany. His work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions including:
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen (2024); Hollybush Gardens, London (2022;2017); Kunstverein KunstHaus Potsdam (2022); AWHRHWAR, Los Angeles (2019); centre culturel suisse, Paris (2019); Spike Island, Bristol (2015); Centre d'Art Contemporain Geneve (2015); Swiss Institute, New York (2013); Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Milan (2011); Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome (2010); Montgomery, Berlin (2008);
Selected group exhibitions:
Migros Museum, Zurich (2025); Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2024); Unlimited Art Basel (2024); Liverpool Biennale (2021); Lafayette Anticipations, Paris (2020); Museum of Modern Art, Paris (2019); Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2018); X Bienal de Nicaragua, Nicaragua (2016); Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2015); CNAC Le Magasin, Grenoble (2011); M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (2011).
Professorship:
Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle: interim professor (2023-2024)
Teaching experience/tutoring:
HSLU Lucerne University, BA Fine Arts; Yale University-NUS College, Singapore; Praxis Study
Program, Fluent, Santander; University of Cologne; ifa-Galerie Berlin, Institut fiur
Auslandsbeziehungen; Academy of Fine Arts, Umea, Sweden; Kunsthochschule Kassel; FHNW
Academy of Art and Design, Institut Kunst, Basel; De Ateliers, Amsterdam; Mainz Academy of
Arts; Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg
Monographs:
Gina, a Zustand novel, trans. Jen Calleja (Berlin: Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite, 2022)
Zustandskatalog: Catalog of States and Conditions, ed. Nikola Dietrich, Reto Pulfer (Berlin:
Sternberg Press, 2017)
Der Themenkatalog, ed. Francesco Pedraglio (Berlin: Archive Books, 2010).
Awards and stipends:
Pro Helvetia, Switzerland; Basellandschaftlicher Kulturpreis; Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn;
Kunstkredit Basel; Christina Spoerri Preis; Swiss Art Award; Marianne-Defet-Malerei-Stipendium,
Nuremberg; Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Rome; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; KSK Cairo;
Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris
Works in public collections:
Migros Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Zurich; Fonds cantonal d'art contemporain, Geneva, Swiss
Federal Art Collection; Kunstkredit Basel; FRAC-Artotheque du Limousin; Centre national des
artes plastiques; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; Silvia Fiorucci-Roman Collection,
Monaco; Collection Lafayette Anticipation, Paris
Anselm Franke in Reto Pulfer: Zustandskatalog, Sternberg Press, 2017
Performance - short Instagram reel with Interview and video
Mousse Maganzine Interview, 2009
Article by Barbara Casavecchia, Frieze d/e 2011-2012
A Generic Square-Line System Trouser by Francesco Pedraglio
By All Means Necessary: In Reto Pulfer's work music and language are elements contributing to an atmosphere created to establish a connection with his audience by erasing the comfort zone between viewer and artwork. Early-dada free-form structures and technical versatility converge with the artist's desire to fully exploit art's infinite possibilities of expression and communication. By putting himself through a physical avalanche, banging his guitar and shouting, integrating the sound of falling sculptures with the one of his music and the words of his drawings with the ones he sings, Pulfer's performances move on the fine line between conscious and subconscious, generating a sense of immediacy that makes them a unique experience. -Michele Robecchi