Manuel Stehli

Overview

Portrait of Manuel Stehli. Photo: Luis Bortt

Manuel Stehli was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1988 and graduated from Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in 2014.

In his recent work, Manuel Stehli has been focusing on the life-sized depiction of the human figure, both individually and in groups. While the situations presented appear rather concrete at first glance, Stehli's paintings refuse a specific placement in space and time. They don't represent events but rather states, experimental arrangements showing one possibility out of many.

There is a peculiar sense of limbo inherent in these paintings: between their blatant presence on the one hand and their muteness on the other, between the intimacy they suggest and the remoteness within which it is sealed. Stehli's works are reticent, they don't reach out to the spectator, but rather act as mere presences, be it as counterparts or placeholders, leaving one to fill the silences themselves.

His recent solo exhibitions include 'Strangers When We Meet' at Lemoyne (Zurich, Switzerland, 2020), 'Sober Speech' at Gallery of the Czech Centre Berlin(Berlin, Germany, 2020), 'Some Kind of Change' at Sudio Picknick (Berlin, Germany, 2019), 'Tongue Tied' at WERK (Berlin, Germany, 2019), 'Wait A Second' at Schierke Seinecke (Frankfurt, Germany, 2018).

Biography

Manuel Stehli, Untitled (pair of hands III), 2021, Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Marguo

Born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1988

Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

EDUCATION

2008 – 2014	Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig
2010 – 2014	Class of Professor Annette Schröter
2011 – 2012	Camberwell College of Arts, London, class of Daniel Sturgis

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020	Lemoyne, ‘Strangers When We Meet’, Zurich, Switzerland
	Gallery of the Czech Centre Berlin, ‘Sober Speech’, Berlin, Germany Berlin, Germany
2019	Sudio Picknick, ‘Some Kind of Change’, Berlin, Germany
	WERK, ‘Tongue Tied’, Berlin, Germany
2018	Schierke Seinecke, ‘Wait A Second’, Frankfurt, Germany
2016	Bistro 21, ‘Jetzt, Aber’, Leipzig, Germany

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2021	Galerie Burster, ‘New Neighbours’, Berlin, Germany
2020	Kunstverein Haus 8, ‘Hookup’, Kiel, Germany
	Sonneundsolche, ‘Little Room for Wildness’ with Maria Wallace, Düsseldorf, Germany
	Oel Früh, ‘Minibar’, Hamburg, Germany
	Schau Fenster - Raum für Kunst, ‘Future Forms and Fiction’, Berlin, Germany
2019	Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, ‘Kunstpreis Junger Westen 2019’, Recklinghausen, Germany
	Setareh x, ‘Conduct’ with Katharina Maderthaner, Düsseldorf, Germany
	Kunstraum Super, Presentation of AVE Magazine 5, Vienna, Austria
	The Window, ‘VIER5 & SQUIZZY P Show Drawings of Today’, Paris, France
	Vertretung des Freistaates Sachsen beim Bund, ‘Neuzugänge zeitgenössischer Kunst im Sächsischen Kunstfonds 2018’, Berlin, Germany
2018	Lehderstraße 35, ‘Berlin Masters’, Berlin, Germany
	Halle 14, ‘WIN/WIN’ The Acquisitions of the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, Leipzig, Germany
	Raum für drastische Maßnahmen, ‘Lütt’, Berlin, Germany
	Künstlerhaus Bethanien, ‘Out of Touch / Out of Time’ with Aneta Kajzer, Berlin, Germany
	Kantonsspital Basel Landschaft, ‘Verstehen-Nicht Verstehen’, Basel, Switzerland
2017	Halle 53, ‘Jungkunst 2017’, Winterthur, Switzerland
	Langestraße 31, ‘Supervision’, Frankfurt, Germany
	Raum Weisz, ‘A Space Odyssey: 5 Jahre Raum Weisz’, Leipzig, Germany
2016	Museum Haus Konstruktiv, ‘Werkschau 2016’, Zurich, Switzerland