David Renggli is a Swiss artist (b. 1974) who lives and works in Zurich. He attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He does not limit himself to a specific medium – he rather explores his creations in paintings, sculptures, collages and installations. They are often characterized by poetic, humorous and critical components. Renggli's art operates against the loss of meaning of the immediate reality surrounding us in everyday life and against a dulling of perception in today's excessively mediatized world.
These works, created over the years, do not stand alone but are united by constant media-reflexive aspects and also appropriations and reinterpretations of everyday or art-historically traditional visual languages. References to fashion magazines or ironically connoted comments on automobiles appear, as can be found in the SUV Paintings: They address the subtle attributions and promises that car manufacturers give to vehicles. Renggli wants to evoke the supposedly shameful feeling when looking at his almost outsider-like works similar to the feeling of wanting to acquire such an SUV. A focal point in his SUV Paintings is the idea of branding, that oscillates between both an upgrade and a devaluation.
In the case of the Desire Paintings - large paintings on jute nets and wood - the classical approach of looking at a painting is put to the test, since the reception is very processual in that the perceived pictorial relationships change with every movement. The perfect position in front of the Desire Paintings sometimes deviates from the position one is used to taking in front of classical painting. Especially from a non-traditional position, for example from the side, do the elements in the picture harmonize, and a shape and its shadow come together to form a coherent overlap.
With his works, Renggli serves the most diverse clichés of yearning, desire and ideas of the idyllic, and breaks these in order to create a confrontation.
Renggli has exhibited in various institutions including Kunsthalle, St. Gallen; Kunstmuseum, Bern; Migros Museum, Zurich; Kunsthaus, Zurich; Villa Merkel, Esslingen; The Swiss Institute, New York; and the Tate Britain, London.
His work is part of renowned collections such as the Julius Bär Collection, Zurich; Kunsthaus, Zurich and Migros Museum, Zurich.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
David Renggli, Jahrmarkt der Gefühle, Kunst(Zeug)haus Rapperswil, Rapperswil
2022
One Night in Hollywood, Tobias Mueller Modern Art, Küsnacht
2021
Hello Sunshine My Dear Friend., Tobias Mueller Modern Art, Zurich
2020
SUV Paintings, Wentrup Galerie, Berlin
Bongos at the Lido, Villa Merkel, Esslingen
2018
Mid-Century Consensus, Chez Valentin, Paris
2017
Mulholland Melody, Wentrup Galerie, Berlin
2016
Sunshine on Fruits, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich
Real Estate Astrology, Chez Valentin, Paris
2014
Flamingo Blue Jeans Penis, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich
2013
Two Melons and 1 Banana, Wentrup Galerie, Berlin
Scaramouche, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, St. Gallen
Mia Marfurt & David Renggli, Kunstverein Galerie Münsterland, Emsdetten
2012
David Renggli! – The Charme of Ignorance, Museum im Bellpark, Kriens
2010
Groundhog Day (with Cristian Andersen), Associazione Barriera, Torino
2009
Im Dunkeln sieht man die Licht, Fri-Art, Kunsthalle Freiburg, Freiburg
Hocus Pocus Out of Focus (with Cristian Andersen), Museum Kunstraum Baden, Baden
2007
You’re the Only Once, Twice My Age, ausstellungsraum25, Zurich
Lieber eine umgebaute Haus als eine umgebaute Mann, Binz 39, Zurich
You, Can You Recommend Your Psychiatrist, Via Farini, Milano
2006
Leihgabe ans Nichts, Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur
Van Zoetendaal Collections, Amsterdam
The Night It Suddenly Became Bright Again, Flaca, London
2005
Hommage an die Interpretation der Zeit, La Rada, Locarno
2004
The Irony of Schicksal, ausstellungsraum25, Zurich
2003
Technologie & Eifersucht, Volkartstiftung, Coalmine, Winterthur
2002
Retrospektive David Renggli, Messagesalon, Zurich