Raphael Hefti

“Les mains sales” by Raphael Hefti. Raphael Hefti has referred to these aluminum paintings, “Les mains sales” (the dirty hands of trial and error), as vessels. They were made in a purpose-built foundry located inside the artist’s studio, cutting out the middlemen who in the recent past have often been so pivotal to the realizing of his visions. They are a species of “homework”, in other words, simultaneously tentative and daring – and a reminder, in their way, of the necessarily private nature of so many discoveries made. Excerpt from the Text by Dieter Roelstraete. The exhibition by Raphael Hefti is on view through Mai 30. — Raphael Hefti Les mains sales I, 2026 cast aluminium 170 x 98 x 10 cm Raphael Hefti Les mains sales IV, 2026 cast aluminium 60 x 47 x 10 cm Raphael Hefti Les mains sales III, 2026 cast aluminium 99 x 72 x 10 cm Installation views, Raphael Hefti, Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich Photo: Conradin Frei & Nils Sandmeier. — #mai36galerie

The Aluminium pieces in the exhibition were made in a purpose-built foundry located inside the Hefti’s studio, cutting out the middlemen who were often so pivotal to the making of earlier works. “Homework”, in other words – and a reminder, in its way, of the necessarily privatenature of so many discoveries made, almost always by accident, in the history alluded to above (Archimedes’ exemplary “Eureka” moment remains the locus classicus in this regard).⁠ ⁠ Excerpt from the Text by Dieter Roelstraete. ⁠ —⁠ ⁠ Raphael Hefti⁠ Walking home, 2026⁠ cast aluminium⁠ left 154 x 37 x 2 cm ⁠ right 164 x 40 x 3 cm⁠ ⁠ Photo Credits: Conradin Frei Courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich⁠ ⁠ —⁠ ⁠ #mai36galerie

On View: Raphael Hefti Through 30 May Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich The first solo exhibition by the Swiss artist at the gallery. @raphaelhefti engages directly with materials at the point of their making, introducing subtle disruptions that alchemically push them beyond their intended function. These interventions reveal unexpected aesthetic and structural outcomes, in tension between precision and material contingency. — Installation views, Raphael Hefti, Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich, 2026. Photo: Conradin Frei & Nils Sandmeier. Courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich — #mai36galerie

On View: Raphael Hefti Through 30 May Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich The first solo exhibition by the Swiss artist at the gallery. Hefti (b. 1978, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland) studied at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne and the Slade School of Fine Art, London. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Fondation Vincent van Gogh, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, CAPC Bordeaux, and Camden Arts Centre. He participated in Desert X (2025) and has received the Prix Mobilière (2015) and Manor Kunstpreis Biel (2014). — Installation views, Raphael Hefti, Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich, 2026. Photo: Conradin Frei & Niels Sandmeier. Courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich — #mai36galerie

We are delighted to present the first solo exhibition with Raphael Hefti (1978, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland) across two floors of the gallery:⁠ ⁠ Artist Reception⁠ 10 April, 18:00⁠ ⁠ Followed by ⁠ Party at Seilerei, Rämistrasse 24⁠ ⁠ Raphael Hefti’s experimental approach to sculpture is fueled by a fascination with industrial and post-industrial processes, which he reclaims, subverts, and transforms with an almost alchemical precision. His artistic practice is driven by a deep curiosity to reveal the inner mechanisms and structures of objects — both industrial and organic. In dialogue with industries and specialists, he investigates the fragility of materials by interfering with their original composition and exposing the hidden truths embedded within conventional techniques. At the core of his work lies a joyful fascination with uncovering hidden processes — whether chemical or industrial — while poetically celebrating that no-man’s-land tension between control and chaos, functionality and failure⁠ ⁠ @raphaelhefti ✨ —⁠ ⁠ #mai36galerie

From the interview with Christoph Bühler, NZZ am Sonntag Magazin, 21.12.2025 We relocated the printing process—normally carried out in Germany—to Zurich for once, to a printing plant that will close next year. One has to imagine a machine as tall as a factory, in which the 78,000 copies are printed at a hellish speed. And we are allowed, perhaps for the last time, to push it to its limits. It may even be the first time, as it has never before been allowed to go this far. We work with a mixture of ink and water and deliberately overdrive the printing ink. In the printing process, everything is usually geared toward precision: every single copy is meant to look exactly the same. Through our intervention, each one gains its own individuality. Yet the work is only complete when the readership also takes part. And it will become clear who truly was part of it: anyone who leafs through this issue will end up with black fingers.

Christoper Knight, Los Angeles Times, 19.3.2025 A half-hour away in Palm Desert, Swiss artist Raphael Hefti, 46, has stretched an impossibly long strip of reinforced fire-hose material, jet black on one side and mirror-bright silver on the other. The aerial strip, swaying overhead in the breeze, is roughly 1,300 feet long — more than 3 ½ football fields. The band is anchored from a high rocky cliff at one end, near the start of a well-used hiking trail, and a tall steel support drilled into the flat desert at the other. An engineering feat, for sure, the resulting catenary curve in the sagging line is a visual treat as well, buoyant and struggling against the pull of gravity for no other reason than to delight. Without the structural principles behind catenary curves, there would be no Gothic cathedrals or Renaissance domes — nor, for that matter, any lacy spiderwebs. Hefti’s curve is shallow in the extreme, given the vast length, and suggests environmental, maybe even planetary scale. Twisting in space, the slender mirrored-line flashes in and out of sight, depending on the time of day, the angle of the sun and shifting weather conditions. At night in ambient light, it’s barely visible, competing with a canopy of stars. In a rugged desert park, the linear sculpture feels at once bold and fragile, muscular and delicate. Hefti has titled the work “Five things you can’t wear on TV,” a sly reference to cautions against wearing pinstripes on camera, lest moiré patterns interfere with a television monitor’s crisp electronic imagery. The title positions the perceptually fluctuating work as existing outside routine contemporary aspirations; instead, it occupies a witty place in a vaguely absurd counterculture. Five things you can’t wear on TV (2025) Woven polyethylene, one side coated with reflective heat shield 400m x 20cm Film: Lance Gerber Generous support is provided by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia

Out of the acceleration of a train ride, fleeting thoughts detach themselves, settling onto paper as “TGV scribbles.” These sketch-like lines find their counterpart in a luminous loop of solar substances that bends and unfolds into itself. The limited edition is made by hand; each tube contains its own mixture of noble gases, becoming a unique piece. Raphael Hefti «TGV scribbles» (2025) Natural noble gases, sealed in hand-crafted silicate-glass tubes 22 × 12 × 24 cm Each neon piece is unique. Edition of 30 + 5 AP for @NZZ__art Photo: Conradin Frei

⚗️Transmutation tellurique A la frontière de l’industrie et du merveilleux, l’artiste Raphael Hefti métamorphose la matière - ici le bismuth, tel un alchimiste contemporain. Son processus créatif fait surgir la beauté à partir de processus imprévus, incontrôlables par la main de l’homme. Installée face à une fenêtre de la Villa Carmignac, l’œuvre, composée de quatre pièces, évolue au gré des variations de lumière de la pièce et se pare d’un ballet de reflets irisés à sa surface. RAPHAEL HEFTI (Suisse, 1978) @raphaelhefti Exit, pursued by a bear, 2025 Bismuth Courtesy de l’artiste 🌀 VERTIGO Commissaire invité : Matthieu Poirier @mattthieupoirier Jusqu’au 2 novembre 2025 Villa Carmignac île de Porquerolles, France villacarmignac.com #FondationCarmignac #VillaCarmignac #Porquerolles #VisitVar #ReseauPleinSud #PleinSud #RaphaelHefti

We are delighted to introduce Raphael Hefti at Art Basel.⁠ ⁠ Raphael Hefti’s experimental approach to sculpture is fueled by a fascination with industrial and post-industrial processes, which he reclaims, subverts, and transforms with an almost alchemical precision.  At the core of his work lies a joyful fascination with uncovering hidden processes — whether chemical or industrial — while poetically celebrating that no-man’s-land tension between control and chaos, functionality and failure. ⁠ @raphaelhefti was born in 1978 and grew up in Biel/Bienne (Switzerland). He is currently based in Zurich. Initially trained as an electronics technician, he went on to study at the École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL), later earning an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. His practice bridges technical expertise with poetic material transformation.⁠ ⁠ Hefti has exhibited internationally at institutions including Camden Arts Centre, London (UK); Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles (France); Kunsthaus Zürich and Kunsthalle Basel (Switzerland); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (The Netherlands); Liverpool Biennial (UK); Dhaka Art Summit (Bangladesh); Nottingham Contemporary (UK); CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux (France); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (Germany); and Desert X, Palm Desert (USA).⁠ ⁠ —⁠ ⁠ Raphael Hefti⁠ We somehow all lost our tail, (2025) Natural noble gases, enclosed in 30 tubes made of silicate and Murano glass⁠ 190 x 30 cm⁠ ⁠ —⁠ ⁠ #mai36galerie⁠

Raphael Hefti’s piece, “Five things you can’t wear on TV” uses a black woven polymer fiber, originally designed for light but durable fire hoses, coated on one side with a reflective finish. Tension holds this flat band of material overhead between two distant points, forming a single line or artificial horizon. The enormous force held in the taut material causes it to oscillate in the wind. This vibration resembles a gently strummed guitar string, creating a visual harmonic that resonates with the surrounding landscape. As the oscillating line strives to assert its presence, it blurs our sense of spatial perception, scale, and distance in its kinetic dance. Catch “Five things you can’t wear on TV” on May 9 – 11 for its final activation during the 2025 exhibition. To learn more about this piece, visit desertx.org or download the Desert X app. Raphael Hefti “Five things you can’t wear on TV” 33.707861, -116.398621 72500 Thrush Rd, Palm Desert, CA 92260 Photos by @lance.gerber

¡Gracias, gente del desierto! ❤️ Aquí, justo sobre la falla entre las placas tectónicas de América del Norte y del Pacífico, con la ayuda de la maravillosa gente del desierto, desplegamos e instalamos mi obra “Cinco cosas que no puedes usar en TV” – una banda de 400 metros de largo, con un lado oscuro y el otro altamente reflectante. El viento y la luz la hacen oscilar y parpadear, creando un juego de luces efímero. Un gesto mínimo, casi imperceptible, que sutilmente divide y acelera este espacio extraordinario, una falla en la matriz. ¡Gracias, gente del desierto! ❤️ Con el generoso apoyo del Consejo Suizo de las Artes Pro Helvetia. — Thank you desert people! ❤️ Here, right on the fault line between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates, with the help of the wonderful desert people, we unrolled and installed my work "Five things you can’t wear on TV"- a 400-meter-long band, one side dark, the other highly reflective. Wind and light make it oscillate and flicker, creating a fleeting light play. A minimal, almost imperceptible gesture that subtly divides and accelerates the extraordinary space, a glitch in the matrix. Thank you desert people! ❤️ Generous support is provided by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia —