Susanna Niederer (born in Basel, Switzerland) studied Romance Languages and Art History at the University of Basel, and then continued her studies at universities in Mexico City and Paris. Her main areas of interest are contemporary art, linguistics, literature, film theory and photography. She visited various Asian countries in 2005, and lived in Japan for half a year in 2006; she has revisited the country many times since. She is currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. Her works in public collections include the City of Basel, Busch-Reisinger Museum (USA), Yale University Art Gallery (USA), Iino Building (Tokyo), and many other museums and institutions.

This exhibition, which will be held at four venues within the Okuno Building, consists of three installations and two-dimensional works. Niederer’s consistent motif of the “ellipse” is an extremely simplified form of art. But strangely, her expressions can penetrate into and remain in viewers’ hearts. This might be because her mind is always focused on “the most important things in life,” with her eyes fixed on incidents that occur in the real world, while also exploring her own feelings. This attitude has enabled her to prune off the unnecessary elements and understand just the most important essence of life. Her use of the severely reduced elliptic form was indispensable for her to express that essence in her works. That is precisely the reason why her expressions can reach into and continue to harmoniously exist in viewers’ hearts. We sincerely hope that visitors experience and enjoy the graceful world of Susanna Niederer.

Courtesy of a piece of space APS