Bernhard Schobinger
B.S. Kosmos
50 years of creation
Friart is dedicating a major retrospective to Bernhard Schobinger, the artist at the heart of a revolution in jewelry creation. Revisiting an original oeuvre spanning 50 years, the exhibition pays homage to an independent figure who stands alone in the art of his country and beyond.
From his connections with Concrete art to punk rebellion, from postmodern eclecticism to the smallest of zen-influenced touches, Schobinger’s work testifies to a constant experimentation that belies any hierarchisation of the arts. Making extensive use of formal and technical invention, it holds up the coming together of opposites, the subtle transfiguration of everyday objects charged with individual stories. In the democracy of materials instituted by the artist, noble metals and precious stones sit alongside the waste of industrial civilisation.
On the first floor, the artist presents a new series of works he has been working on for several years. Employing fragments retrieved from the rubble of Berlin, a city destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, it invokes the connections between memory and destruction that shape the artist’s poetics.
Bernhard Schobinger (1946, CH) lives and works in Richterswil (ZH).
Bernhard Schobinger, Japanese Scissor Birds, 2024. Photo Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Exhibition view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Bernhard Schobinger, Rosenkranz mit Fliegenpilz / Rosary with Toadstool, 1996. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Installation view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Installation view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Bernhard Schobinger, Zwei Holzblöcke, 1985. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Exhibition view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Installation view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Installation view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Installation view, Bernhard Schobinger, B.S. Kosmos, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Original photos of the publication Bernhard Schobinger, Eiszeit Juwelentraum, 1981. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Bernhard Schobinger, Kreuzfahrtschiff, 1987. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Icecreamlyric, 1983. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Swiss Made, 2010. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Tutti Kabutti, 1980/1981. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Agent Orange, 1981. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Nagel-Ring, 2011. Photo Fabio Mantegna. Courtesy Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Restverwertung, 1985. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Form aus zwei geviertelten Kreisringen, 1974. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Four-Point Ring, 1966. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Lozenge Ring, 1969. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Exhibition view, Bernhard Schobinger, Berlin, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Bernhard Schobinger, Legs on chain, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Küchen Schilder, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg and the artist
Bernhard Schobinger, Two Broken Baby Faces, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Ear-hanger, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Parfum flacon ring, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery
Bernhard Schobinger, Hand in hand hanger, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Martina Simeti Gallery