Neville Wakefield’s Artist to Watch in 2014: Bernhard Hegglin

We asked several of our friends and contributors for the artists they’ll be paying close attention to in the new year. Neville Wakefield picked a young Swiss artist who he’ll be featuring in “Elevation1049”, the “roving biennial” of Swiss artists he’s co-curating in early 2014.

Bernhard Hegglin: “Hans Ulrich Obrist and Peter Fischli introduced me to the work of Beni Hegglin who was at the time, and still is, working at Peter’s studio. What I was shown was unassuming, to a fault. Taking the language of everyday materials—sheetrock, plaster, wood, glass—it barely stands proud of its surroundings. But for all this apparent reticence, pieces such as the gypsum rods with washes of pigment seem resilient even as they speak a language of fragility. After all the glittering product of art fairs and the like, these unassuming works strike a chord. Easy to like but not easy to buy, they offer a welcome antidote to the ready baubles of a saturated market. Beni will be the youngest artist to be shown in Elevation1049.”

Neville Wakefield is a writer and curator based in New York.

Images: Bernhard Hegglin, Ohne Titel, 2010, courtesy Tanya Leighton; Bernhard Hegglin, Untitled, 2011, from “Monochrome” exhibition, courtesy SALTS; Bernhard Hegglin, “1 2 nei nei nei” series, courtesy galerie milieu.

Explore the rest of our 2013 highlights and discover more artists to watch in 2014!