biography
vivian suter was born in buenos aires, argentina in 1949, to austrian migrants. she lives and works in panajachel, guatemala.
after moving with her family to basel, switzerland, where she studied, suter embarked on extensive travels through europe, africa, the middle east, and asia. in the early 1980s, as her career began to gain recognition, she chose to relocate بعيد from the european art scene, settling in guatemala on the shores of lake atitlán, where she built her home and studio on a former coffee plantation.
for decades, vivian suter has developed a deeply immersive painting practice shaped by her immediate surroundings. her work operates as a form of mapping and recording the environment in which it is produced. the tropical rainforest actively participates in the making of her paintings: canvases are exposed to rain, mud, wind, and organic matter, accumulating stains, imprints, and traces of daily life. branches leave scratches, and even the footprints of her dogs—tintin, nina, and disco—become part of the surface. her practice dissolves the boundary between studio and landscape, allowing nature to act as both collaborator and author.
selected museum exhibitions
her work has been exhibited internationally in several solo exhibitions at venues including the palais de tokyo, paris (2025); moderna museet, malmö (2025); maat – museum of art, architecture and technology, lisbon (2024); secession, vienna (2023); gamec, bergamo (2023); kunstmuseum basel | gegenwart, basel (2022); museo nacional centro de arte reina sofía, madrid (2021); kunstmuseum luzern, luzern (2021); camden arts centre, london (2020); ica, boston (2019); tate liverpool (2019); mudam luxembourg musée d’art moderne grand-duc jean (2019); the power plant, toronto (2018); art institute of chicago (2018); jewish museum, new york (2017); kunsthalle basel (2014); among others.
suter was included in documenta 14, athens and kassel (2017); the 31st são paulo biennial, são paulo (2014); the taipei biennial, taipei (2018); the 14th gwangju biennale, gwangju (2023); and desert x, coachella valley (2021); among others.
her work has been featured in recent group exhibitions at astrup fearnley museet, oslo (2025); contemporary art museum, st. louis (2025); museum jumex, mexico city (2024); castello di rivoli, turin (2024); migros museum für gegenwartskunst, zurich (2024); fondazione prada, venice (2023); solomon r. guggenheim museum, new york (2022); high museum of art, atlanta (2022); rudolfinum, prague (2022); museum of fine arts, boston (2019); the high line, new york (2019); among others.
public collections
suter’s work is held in the collections of art institute of chicago, chicago; bundesamt für kultur, zurich; tate collection, london; mudam luxembourg; miettinen collection, berlin; jewish museum, new york; solomon r. guggenheim museum, new york; mca chicago, chicago; museum of fine arts, boston; migros museum für gegenwartskunst, zurich; ricola collection, laufen; burger collection, hong kong; fleming collection, scotland; ringier collection, zurich; rudolfinum collection, prague; museo reina sofía, madrid; aishti foundation, jal el dib; cranford collection, london; pictet collection, geneva; kunstmuseum basel, basel; among others.
shows at kaufmann repetto
tintin nina disco, 2024, solo show at kaufmann repetto milan
[ read more ]VIVIAN SUTER (Born in 1949 in Buenos Aires. Lives and works in Panajachel, Guatemala)
Selected solo exhibitions
2025
Snake Nights, Karma International, Zurich
Disco, Carré d’Art Museée d’Art Contemporain, Nîmes
Tintin Nina, Conciliazione 5, Rome
Disco, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
I am Godzilla, Moderna Museet, Malmo
2024
Disco, MAAT – The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon
Tintin Nina Disco, kaufmann repetto, Milan
2023
Vivian Suter: Tintin, Nina & Disco, Gladstone 64, New York
Vivian Suter: Tintin Nina Disco, House of Gaga, Los Angeles
Vivian Suter: Home, GAMeC, Bergamo
A Stone in the Lake, Secession, Vienna
Vivian Suter, Fundación Cervieri Monsuárez, Uruguay
2022
Vivian Suter, Gladstone Gallery, Seoul
soft and fluffy is my soul – my tommy juices don’t worry – are sweet like a
liquorice roll, Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, Basel
Frank = Panchito, Karma International, Zürich
Worm in a Water Glass, Vleeshal, Middelburg
2021
Vivian Suter. Retrospektive, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern
Vivian Suter, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Madrid
Wolf’s Hour, Gladstone Gallery, Brussels
2020
Vivian Suter. Bonzo’s Dream, Brücke Museum, Berlin
Storefront Gallery, Karma International, Zürich
Vivian Suter: Tintin’s Sofa, Camden Arts Centre, London
2019
Vivian Suter, ICA Boston, Boston
Vivian Suter, Tate Liverpool
Vivian Suter. Nisyros, Mudam Luxembourg Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean
Vivian Suter, Gladstone Gallery, New York
2018
La Canícula, The Power Plant, Toronto
Vivian Suter: el bosque interior, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Vivian Suter: Bilder 1988-2018, Stampa Galerie, Basel
2017
Vivian Suter and Elisabeth Wild, Karma International, Los Angeles
Brotan Claveles las Solapas, Museo Experimental el Eco, Mexico City
Using Walls, Floors, and Ceilings: Vivian Suter, Jewish Museum, New York
2015
Vivian Suter, Karma International, Zürich
Lejos, House of Gaga, Mexico City
Panajachel, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles
2014
Vivian Suter: intrépida, featuring Elisabeth Wild: Fantasías 2,
Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
2004
Alrededor de mi cuarto, Kunstmuseum Olten, Olten
1993
Galerie Stampa, Basel
1990
Galerie Susan Wyss, Zürich
1985
Fundación Humboldt y Consulado Suizo
1984
Galerie Regenbogen, Luzern
1983
Vivian Suter: Bilder 1981-1983, Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau, Kartause Ittingen, Warth
1982
Galerie Fabjbasaglia, Bologna
Gallery Dossi, Bergamo
1981
Galleria Diagramma, Milan
Severina Teucher, Zürich
1980
Galerie Stampa, Basel
1978
Gallery ABF, Hamburg
1977
Gallery Handschin, Basel
1976
Gallery Elisabeth Kauffman, Olten
1975
Galerie Rolf Preisig, Basel
1973
Vivian Suter: Hirsche, Galerie Stampa, Basel
1971
Galerie Stampa, Basel
Selected group exhibitions
2026
1 Raum, 1 Werk, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern
2025
Second Annual Exhibition, The Campus, Claverack
The Great Outdoors, Musée d’art du Valais, Sion
Space Making, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo
Like Water, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis
2024
Silhouettes in the Undergrowth, Fundacion Museum Jumex, Mexico City
Mutual Aid. Arte in collaborazione con la natura, Castello di Rivoli, Turin
MATERIAL MEMORIES, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich
2023
Spora, Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, New York
NGV Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Soft and weak like water, 14th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju
EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER, Fondazione Prada, Venice
2022
Sensory Poetics: Collecting Abstraction, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
What is left unspoken: love, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Midnight, Coimbra Biennial of Contemporary Art, Coimbra
Forms of Fragility, Rudolfinum, Prague
2021
Desert X, Coachella Valley, California
2020
All of Them Witches, Deitch Projects, Los Angeles
2019
Contemporary Art: Five Propositions, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
En Plein Air, High Line, New York
2018
Post Nature: A Museum as an Ecosystem, Taipei Biennial, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei
Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires, Ex Cervecería Munich, Buenos Aires
Spiegelgasse, Hauser & Wirth, London
Mothers of Men, House of Gaga, Mexico City
2017
Guatemala from 33,000 km: Contemporary Art, 1960 – Present, Museum of
Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
Documenta 14, Athens and Kassel
2016
Lanzarote, Union Pacific, London
X Bienal de Nicaragua, Managua
Raum 1 + 2, Galerie Stampa, Basel
2015
Blocking, Martos Gallery LA, Los Angeles
Zurich & Elsewhere, Carlos / Ishikawa, London
2014
31st Sao Paulo Biennial, São Paulo
2013
Concepción 41, Fundacion de arte contemporaneo, Antigua
Olinka or Where Movement is Created, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City
2011
6 Künstler aus Basel x2, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
2010
Cuatro artistas de Suiza, Rut Himmelsbach, Monika Sennhauser, Vivian Suter und Elisabeth Wild, Galeria, Panajachel
2006
Room 1 and 2, Galerie Stampa, Basel
1999
Galerie Rudolf Mangisch, Zurich
1988
Exhibition “Collection Bankverein”
1983
Swiss Center Gallery, New York
ARTE e CRITICA, Pisa
1982
Gallery Nouvelles Images, The Hague
1981
6 Künstler aus Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
Aspekte Junger Schweizer Kunst, Gallery Nächst St. Stephan
Aspekte Junger Schweizer Kunst, Gallery Krinzinger, Innsbruck
Gallery Eva Keppel, Dusseldorf
1980
Gallery Eva Keppel, Dusseldorf
22 Swiss Artists, Galeria Nazionale d’Arte Modern
1979
Europa 79, Stuttgart
1978
Sechs Basler Künstler, Kunstsammlung Thun, Thun
1970
Galerie Stampa, Basel
Private and public collections
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Bundesamt für Kultur, Zurich
Tate Collection, London
Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg
Miettinen Collection, Berlin
Jewish Museum, New York
Guggenheim Museum, New York
MCA Chicago, Chicago
MFA Boston, Boston
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Ricola Collection, Laufen
Burger Collection, Hong Kong
Fleming Collection, Scotland
Ringier Collection, Zurich
Godiva Collection, Ardooie
Rudolfinum Collection, Prague
Museo Reina Sofía Collection, Madrid
Aishti Foundation Collection, Jal El Dib
Cranford Collection, London
Pictet Collection, Geneva
Kunst Museum Basel Collection, Basel
Awards and grants
2021 Schweizer Grand Prix Kunst, Prix Meret Oppenheim
2016 Golden Pineapple, La Gran Bienal Tropical 2, San Juan
Education
1972 Kunstgewerbeschule Basel
Vivian suter: disco, 2025
JRP with MAAT, Lisbon, and Palais de Tokyo, Paris
vivian suter, 2023
Secession, Vienna & GAMeC, Bergamo
Vivian Suter: Bonzo, Tintin & Nina, 2022
hatje cantz
vivian suter, 2019
Hatje Cantz
