Raphael Hefti

Raphael Hefti (b.1978) engages with industrial and natural processes which are pushed and manipulated to their limits to create arresting works across a range of media including photography, sculpture and performance. From a series of beautifully coloured photograms, Lycopodium, created by burning the spores of the eponymous moss against photographic paper, to Replaying the mistake of a broken hammer (2011), a steel bar that has been subjected to different and sometimes interrupted stages of the hardening process leaving the metal at different stages of fragility. Hefti’s works are representations of scientific experimentation and the possibilities of human intervention.

In his 2013 solo show, Quick Fix Remix, at Ancient and Modern, London, the gallery space was transformed into a 19th century foundry that was part sculptural installation and part performance. On the opening night, Hefti demonstrated the process of ‘thermic welding’ in a gallery that was filled with twenty five tonnes of sand, the remains of which could be viewed for the rest of the exhibition, creating a monument to industrial imperfection through his enthralling, and potentially dangerous, performance.

Hefti lives and works in Zurich and London and is represented by Ancient and Modern, London. He studied at Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (2009-2011), Ecole Cantonale d‘art de Lausanne (1998-2002) and undertook an apprenticeship in electronics and mechanics (1993-1997). Recent solo shows include Inside the White Cube at White Cube, Launching Rockets Never Gets Old at Camden Arts Centre and Nature more at CAPC, musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux.

In 2014, Hefti has a permanent glass piece opening at the Van Gogh Museum, Arles, a solo show at Centre PasquArt, Biel, and he will be curating a season at Lafayette Paris in March.

Further Research:

www.raphaelhefti.ch

www.thisistomorrow.info