ART ⋆ HOTEL HELVETIA Zurich

About the job

ART

Showcase Katja Schenker

since 29 June 2026

Exhibition at Boutique Hotel Helvetia, Stauffacherquai 1-3, Zurich

About the artist

Katja Schenker (born 1968 in St. Gallen; lives and works in Zurich and Paris) works at the intersection of performance, drawing and sculpture. In her artistic work, she explores the body as a place of resistance, relationship and transformation.

"For me, the body is both material and subject," says Schenker. "It keeps us upright, enables us to remain present and in motion, to connect with others and to create spaces of freedom."

Schenker became known through iconic performances such as sauvée, the transformation of a parachute into a lifebuoy, which can be seen in the hotel.

In addition, she has realised much-noticed large-scale projects in public spaces, including Kerberos, a 250-metre-long intervention around the waste incineration plant in Winterthur, as well as Dreamer (How deep is time?), a monumental, 11-metre-high and 100-ton concrete A, installed on the FHNW campus in Muttenz near Basel.

At Hotel Helvetia, a documentary film about the creation of Dreamer provides insights into Schenker's sculptural working process over a period of four years.

Parallel to the presentation at Hotel Helvetia, Schenker is showing a solo exhibition at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich. There she presents her new series of impressive large-format oil pastel drawings in red entitled Caryatids Go for a Swim (3 June – 6 September 2026).

The Boutique & Art Hotel Helvetia and its sister hotel Boutique & Design Hotel Volkshaus Basel understand contemporary art as part of their DNA. Through collaborations with artists, galleries and the active commitment of the founders Adrian Hagenbach and Leopold Weinberg, art becomes part of everyday life within their boutique hotels. For more information about upcoming and past showcases, please visit the WACollection.