Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA.
May 15th - June 9th 2019
Galerie Mighela Shama is pleased to present Haute Route, a solo exhibition of Zurich-based artist Dorian Büchi. This exhibition focuses on Büchi's reflection on past travels through the Alps, having completed 'La haute route' in 2016, the artist fell in love with ski touring and continued his skiing adventures in Graubanden, the Bernese Alps and in the Norwegian Fjords. Nature has always been a focal point in Büchi's life, however, in 'La haute route' we see a departure in his practise moving in to formal abstraction, having previously solely focused on portraiture.
Dorian Büchi
Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mighela Shama.
The experience of walking in a desert of ice pushed his body to absolute limits while responding in a trance to nature's untameable strength. While finishing his trek, the exhaustion of his body turned his mind into a state of near hallucination. The unrelenting panorama turned into a two-dimensional screen of color and shapes, superimposed on treacherous ice-caps. Memory plays a significant role in Büchi's visual vocabulary, his approach to painting his impression of mountains and his experience is spontaneous; he paints quickly without looking back.
Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mighela Shama.
Dorian Büchi
Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mighela Shama.
The works featured in Haute Route calls for meditative gaze rather than trying to recognize the changing views of Mont Blanc or the Matterhorn. The contrast between the vivid colours he uses and the empty often raw background gives the work its intensive strength. It appears he painted these canvases without a conscious thought, accessing his memories from a subconscious mind as part of his creative process.
Dorian Büchi
Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mighela Shama.
Dorian Büchi
Installation view of the exhibition Haute Route by Dorian Büchi. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mighela Shama.