
John M Armleder was born in Geneva, Switzerland 1948, where he lives and works. His career spans five decades and synthesizes many of the competing aesthetic developments associated with that period.
Student of Fluxus in Geneva in the 1960s, and founder of the Ecart group, Armleder was later, in the 1980s, associated with Neo-Geometric Conceptualism. He is known for the variety of his work, which combines Fluxus spirit and abstract painting, readymade and sculpture, performance and room-size installations. As a painter, sculptor and performance artist, Armleder constantly asks questions about what art is, what it can do, and what art is allowed. From room-size installations to abstract paintings, from geometrical constructivist paintings to furniture sculptures and pattern-strewn wallpapers, his art admittedly takes on attributes of Suprematist painting, Minimalist sculpture, Concrete Art and Dada readymades, among other movements. Student of Fluxus in Geneva in the 1960s and founder of the Ecart group, Armleder was later, in the 1980s, associated with Neo-Geometric Conceptualism for his furniture sculptures, conflating art and the design object, as he has always been interested in breaking through perceived divisions between art and architecture, art and design, and art and functional objects. Recent projects have seen Armleder looking at more conceptual approaches, questioning the notion of authorship via delegation methods and curatorial undertaking. John Armleder’s art never looks quite like itself, and it escapes any possible definition and label. Nevertheless, he has developed a signature vocabulary and sense of humour that make his work unmistakably his own. John Armleder’s upcoming retrospective, Yakety Yak, will open at MRAC - Musée régional d’art contemporain Occitanie, Sérignan, France, this April. The Swiss artist has had solo exhibitions in prestigious institutions such as: Again, Just Again, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, C (2021), It Never Ends, Kanal Centre Pompidou, Brussels, B (2021), Della materia spirituale, MAXXI, Rome, I (2020), Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, D (2019); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA (2019); Museion, Bolzano, Italy (2018); MADRE - Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, I (2018); Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Rome (2017); Consortium of Dijon, France (2014), Dairy Art Centre, London (2013); Swiss Institute, New York, USA (2012); Kunstmuseum, Sankt-Gallen, Switzerland (2010). Selected group shows include: Picture & After, MAMCO Genève, Genève, Switzerland (2023); Geometric Opulence, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, CH (2022); &, MAMCO Genève, Genève, CH (2022); It Never Ends - Part 2, Kanal Centre Pompidou, Brussels, B (2021); X_Minimal, Cassina Projects, Milano, I (2021), Stop Painting, Fondazione Prada, Venezia, I (2021), Villa Chiuminatto, Torino, I (2021), Récit d’un temps court, MAMCO, Geneva, CH (2016); Biennale de l’image en mouvement 2016, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneva, CH (2016); Accrochage, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, F 2015); Don’t Shoot The Painter, GAM, Milano, I (2015); Food: Produire, Manger, Consommer; Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, F (2014).
In 2011 he received the Meret Oppenheim Prize, in 2007 the Leenaards Foundation Prize and in 1995 the Ville de Genève Prize. He was shown at the Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2013); the International Triennial of Contemporary Art, Yokohama (2008); the Prague Biennial, Prague (2008); the 7th Biennial of Contemporary Art, Lyon (2003); the 6th Sculpture Biennial, Lugano (2001) and the 42nd Venice Biennial, Venice (1986).
Student of Fluxus in Geneva in the 1960s, and founder of the Ecart group, Armleder was later, in the 1980s, associated with Neo-Geometric Conceptualism. He is known for the variety of his work, which combines Fluxus spirit and abstract painting, readymade and sculpture, performance and room-size installations. As a painter, sculptor and performance artist, Armleder constantly asks questions about what art is, what it can do, and what art is allowed. From room-size installations to abstract paintings, from geometrical constructivist paintings to furniture sculptures and pattern-strewn wallpapers, his art admittedly takes on attributes of Suprematist painting, Minimalist sculpture, Concrete Art and Dada readymades, among other movements. Student of Fluxus in Geneva in the 1960s and founder of the Ecart group, Armleder was later, in the 1980s, associated with Neo-Geometric Conceptualism for his furniture sculptures, conflating art and the design object, as he has always been interested in breaking through perceived divisions between art and architecture, art and design, and art and functional objects. Recent projects have seen Armleder looking at more conceptual approaches, questioning the notion of authorship via delegation methods and curatorial undertaking. John Armleder’s art never looks quite like itself, and it escapes any possible definition and label. Nevertheless, he has developed a signature vocabulary and sense of humour that make his work unmistakably his own. John Armleder’s upcoming retrospective, Yakety Yak, will open at MRAC - Musée régional d’art contemporain Occitanie, Sérignan, France, this April. The Swiss artist has had solo exhibitions in prestigious institutions such as: Again, Just Again, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, C (2021), It Never Ends, Kanal Centre Pompidou, Brussels, B (2021), Della materia spirituale, MAXXI, Rome, I (2020), Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, D (2019); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA (2019); Museion, Bolzano, Italy (2018); MADRE - Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, I (2018); Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Rome (2017); Consortium of Dijon, France (2014), Dairy Art Centre, London (2013); Swiss Institute, New York, USA (2012); Kunstmuseum, Sankt-Gallen, Switzerland (2010). Selected group shows include: Picture & After, MAMCO Genève, Genève, Switzerland (2023); Geometric Opulence, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, CH (2022); &, MAMCO Genève, Genève, CH (2022); It Never Ends - Part 2, Kanal Centre Pompidou, Brussels, B (2021); X_Minimal, Cassina Projects, Milano, I (2021), Stop Painting, Fondazione Prada, Venezia, I (2021), Villa Chiuminatto, Torino, I (2021), Récit d’un temps court, MAMCO, Geneva, CH (2016); Biennale de l’image en mouvement 2016, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneva, CH (2016); Accrochage, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, F 2015); Don’t Shoot The Painter, GAM, Milano, I (2015); Food: Produire, Manger, Consommer; Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, F (2014).
In 2011 he received the Meret Oppenheim Prize, in 2007 the Leenaards Foundation Prize and in 1995 the Ville de Genève Prize. He was shown at the Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2013); the International Triennial of Contemporary Art, Yokohama (2008); the Prague Biennial, Prague (2008); the 7th Biennial of Contemporary Art, Lyon (2003); the 6th Sculpture Biennial, Lugano (2001) and the 42nd Venice Biennial, Venice (1986).

John Armleder
YABBA DABBA DOO, 2020
Mixed media on canvas
200 × 145 × 4 cm / 78 3/4 × 57 1/8 × 1 2/3 inches

John Armleder
LAKE PLACID, 2019
Mixed media on canvas
210 × 420 × 5 cm / 82 2/3 × 165 1/3 × 2 inches

John Armleder
CANDY CLOWN, 2019
Acrylic on canvas, three metallic steps
215 × 350 × 103 cm / 84 5/8 × 137 4⁄5 × 40 4/7 inches

John Armleder
PERMANENT RECORD, 2019
Mixed media on canvas
150 × 630 cm / 59 × 248 inches
Ciascuna tela 150 x 210 cm / each canvas 59 x 82 2/3 inches

John Armleder
FIZZ (FS), 2017
Acrylic on canvas, three Brian May guitars
322 × 176 cm / 126 3/2 × 69 1/3 inches
Lower painting 39 cm from the floor, 13 cm gap above. Lower guitar 15cm from the floor, 6.5 cm gap between guitars. 34 cm between painting and centre of guitar.

John Armleder
FRUTTI DI MARE, 2017
Mixed media on canvas
150 × 225 cm / 59 × 88 1/2 inches
Left panel: 150 x 110 cm / 59 x 43 1/3 inches
Right panel: 150 x 115 cm / 59 x 45 1/4 inches

John Armleder
SAUSAGE & MASH, 2017
Mixed media on canvas
200 × 250 cm / 78 3/4 × 98 1/2 inches
Left panel: 200 x 150 cm / 78 3/4 x 59 inches
Right panel: 200 x 100 cm / 78 3/4 x 39 1/3 inches

John Armleder
CREAM TEA, 2017
Mixed media on canvas
225 × 300 cm / 88 1/2 × 118 inches
Left panel: 225 x 150 cm / 88 1/2 x 59 inches
Right panel: 225 x 150 cm / 88 1/2 x 59 inches

John Armleder
VACANCES, 2017
Iron, marble and velvet
208 × 180 × 95 cm / 81 5/6 × 71 × 37 1/3 inches

John Armleder
AILLEURS, 2017
Acrylic on canvas, two stools
210.5 × 172 × 47 cm / 82 2/3 × 67 2/3 × 18 1/2 inches

John Armleder
MIND BREATH I, 2015
Specchio Piuma ultra light mirror panel, serigraphy
60 × 40 × 3.5 cm / 23 5/8 × 15 3/4 × 1 3/8 inches

John Armleder
G H & DE M, 2015
Mixed media on canvas, 'Peggy' chairs by William Sawaya
212 × 375 × 80 cm / 83 1/2 × 147 2/3 × 31 1/2 inches
Tela 150 x 300 cm / Canvas 59 x 118 inches

John Armleder
DE M & G H, 2015
Mixed media on canvas, two Opera Sib tubas plated in silver and gold
250 × 230 × 40 cm / 98 1/2 × 90 2/3 × 15 3/4 inches

John Armleder
MOTHER, 2015
Mixed media on wood, Echinocactus grusonii
100 × 63.5 × 32 cm / 39 3/8 × 25 × 12 2/3 inches
Plinth 73 x 63.5 x 32 cm

John Armleder
FS RICHOUX/PRINCESS GARDEN, 2013
Cactus, mixed media on canvas
65 × 50 × 61 cm / 25 1/2 × 19 3/4 × 24 inches

John Armleder
FS RICHOUX/AUTOMAT, 2013
Mirrors and pencil on canvas
150 × 225 × 5 cm / 59 × 88 1/2 × 2 inches

John Armleder
RICHOUX/SPELLBOUND, 2013
2 armchairs, acrylic on canvas
230 × 600 cm / 90 1/5 × 236 inches
Overall dimensions are approximate. Each canvas measures: 120 x 180 cm. Each chair measures approx. 80 x 80 x 65 cm. Leave 20 cm gap between each canvas. The left side canvas should be higher than the two on the right side. Leave approx. 50 cm gap between the chairs and the canvas series.

John Armleder
FS RICHOUX/IKEDA, 2013
Cactuses, towels and canvas
249 × 210 × 56 cm / 98 × 82 1/2 × 22 inches

John Armleder
FS RICHOUX/ANNABELL'S, 2013
Three clocks, pouf, canvas
240 × 186 × 100 cm / 94 1/2 × 73 1/4 × 39 3/8 inches
John Armleder
FS RICHOUX/ROCKET, 2013
Guitar, spraypaint on canvas
302 × 209 cm / 119 × 82 1/4 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED, 2008
Mixed media on canvas
140 × 140 × 4 cm / 55 1/8 × 55 1/8 × 1 2/3 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED, 2008
Two tiled mirrors, "Minarik Inferno" electric guitar
110 × 540 × 4 cm / 43 1/3 × 212 3/5 × 1 2/3 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED, 2008
Acrylic on canvas, Christmas trees
242 × 270 × 110 cm / 95 1/3 × 106 1/3 × 43 1/3 inches

John Armleder
NEPHILA MADAGASCARENSIS, 2005
Acrylic on canvas
270 × 200 cm / 106 1/3 × 78 3/4 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED, 2002
Twenty-five pierre lumineuse
Dimensioni variabili / Environmental dimensions

John Armleder
UNTITLED, 2002
Aluminium, spray paint, Specchio Piuma ultra light mirror panel
300 × 522 cm / 118 1/8 × 205 1/2 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED (CHUTES D'EAU), 2002
Light boxes, acrylic on canvas
259 × 353 cm / 102 × 139 inches

John Armleder
UNTITLED (FS), 1998
Twenty-two fluorescent tubes
42 × 325 × 160 cm / 16 1/2 × 128 × 63 inches
John Armleder
FURNITURE SCULPTURE 254, 1991
Desks, chairs and acrylic on canvas
262 × 215 × 80 cm / 103 1/6 × 84 5/8 × 31 1/2

John Armleder
FS 140, 1987
Piece of furniture, acrylic on canvas
200 × 180 × 89 cm / 78 3/4 × 70 7/8 × 35 inches