Markus Raetz

Markus Raetz is a Swiss sculptor and conceptual artist. His art is usually described as being about issues of reality and illusion. He has had no formal art training, except “half a year studying etching in Amsterdam.”

Since he began showing his work in 1966, he has had exhibitions in many galleries and museums, including all the major Swiss museums and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Kolnischer Kunstverein in Germany, the Serpentine Gallery in London, the New Museum in New York City and, in 2001, the Arts Club of Chicago.

In 1988 he represented Switzerland in the Venice Biennale. His Venice exhibition was partly made up of seascapes, but Raetz did not go out with his easel to paint them. He calls them “invented,” and the essayist for the Venice catalog speaks of “fields of vision” and “continuity in constant flux.”