Olaf Breuning Schaffhausen, Switzerland, b. 1970

A graduate of the Zürich University of the Arts (ZHdK), he has, since the early 1990s, pursued an approach grounded in irony, play, and reflection on contemporary imagery. His work explores clichés, kitsch, and the collective visual codes of mass culture, revealing both their humor and their contradictions.

Breuning’s projects are marked by expressive color palettes and an eclectic mix of styles, blending absurdity with precise observation of contemporary life. His deliberately simplified, grotesque forms reflect the paradoxes of modern visual culture — from superficial perception to dependence on familiar media archetypes.

One of his most recognizable series, Art Freaks (2011), features painted nude models referencing the styles of Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock, and On Kawara. These living “portraits” serve as an allegory for the complex relationship between art and its interpretation, probing how we perceive and reproduce cultural icons in an age of endless replication.

Alongside photography and film, Breuning actively works in sculpture, creating large-scale marble figures that depict animals, people, and fantastical beings. Their playful, naïve forms combine humor and formal clarity, embodying the artist’s ongoing balance between the comic and the philosophical.