Aurélien Gamboni develops an artistic practice of investigation, often involving field research and collaborations, and leading to multiple forms of installations, texts and lecture-performances.
In each of his investigations, he focuses on a “mediating” object – an image, story or tale allowing to shed new light on our present times – whose trail he follows as he travels, mobilizing new audiences around shared problems.
From Saint-Germain-en-Laye to Kinshasa, he led a long-term investigation into The Conjurer by Hieronymus Bosch and the politics of attention. With writer and anthropologist Sandrine Teixido, he investigated the perception of environmental mutations based on Edgar Allan Poe's maelstrom, collecting testimonies from southern Brazil to northern Norway, as well as in the Great Lakes region (USA-Canada). Finally, his research into the grave and writings of Swiss feminist novelist Alice Rivaz led him to develop the project “Le Tiret (2021-2031)” and to co-initiate the Institute of Interval Studies, which organizes annual public events at the art centre Villa Bernasconi.
Aurélien Gamboni is a former co-curator of Forde independent art space (2006-2008), he took part in the artists and researchers collective Save as draft (2010-2012) working on the representations of climate change, and contributed to the SNF research project The Anthropocene Atlas of Geneva (TAAG) at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD), where he currently teaches.
He took part in numerous exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad, including: If It’s A Bird, Shoot It!, SculptureCenter, Long Island city, NY, 2008; Fragile monumente, Susie Q Projects, Zurich, 2009; The Big Picture, Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin, 2009; Weather Permitting, 9th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, 2013; Voglio Vedere le Mie Montagne, Museo MAGA, Gallarate, 2015; Guanabara Bay: Hidden Waters and Life, Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Niterói, 2016; A tale as a tool, Centre de la Photographie Genève, 2017; Eblouissements, 5th Biennial of Lubumbashi (DRC), 2017; Industria, Bex&Arts Triennial 2020; Toko zela lobi te, 2nd Yango Biennial, Kinshasa, 2022.
He was awarded a Swiss Art Award in both 2011 and 2016.
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