The Kunsthaus Biel hosts two collections of contemporary art: the one of the Kunsthaus Collection Foundation and the one of the Kunstverein Biel.
The Kunsthaus collection embraces almost 2’000 works by over 130 artists – including numerous important names from the international art scene such as Rebecca Horn, Fischli/Weiss, Markus Raetz, Olivier Mosset, Thomas Huber, Urs Lüthi, Kapwani Kiwanga and Liz Craft.
Also represented are outstanding representatives of the national art scene, such as Heinz Brand, Marie José Burki, Miriam Cahn, Mariann Grunder, Gian Pedretti, Claude Sandoz and Uwe Wittwer, as well as numerous regional artists, including some important groups of works by the painter and drawing artist Bruno Meier (CH, 1905–1967) and graphic works by Heinz-Peter Kohler and Martin Ziegelmüller.
In 2023, the foundation received a donation from the couple Mary-Ann and Hal Glicksman, important figures in the Californian art scene of the 1970s. The collection, consisting of several hundred exhibits, is divided into four main groups: Californian assemblagism, minimal and conceptual art, the Light and Space movement and Pop Art.
Certain figures occupy a privileged place in these ensembles, including Michael Asher, Philipp Hefferton, Tom Eatherton, Georges Herms, Wallace Bermann and, of course, Larry Bell and Guy de Cointet. This heterogeneous collection conveys an impression of the permeability between artistic practices, which follows a multidisciplinary concept based on the experiences of the Beat Generation.
More information about the Collection Foundation.
For over 60 years, the Kunstverein Biel has maintained a collection of contemporary art that now comprises almost 800 works. As part of the rental programme “Aktion Miete”, works from this collection are made available to members of the association at very moderate prices. In addition to numerous paintings and drawings, the collection also includes prints, objects and photographs by artists from Switzerland, Europe and the USA.
Further information about the Kunstverein Biel.