Vanessa Safavi Swiss, b. 1980
Works
Dans sa coquille, 2025
Biography
Dans sa coquille, 2025
Vanessa Safavi (b. 1980, Switzerland) is an artist who lives and works in Berlin. She studied Fine Arts at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), graduating in 2007, before completing a Master’s degree at HEAD – Geneva in 2020. Her international residencies and professional experience, including work in migration, have informed her research into identity, territory and cultural exchange.
Working primarily with sculpture and installation, Safavi explores the relationship between the body, identity and materiality. Using silicone, rubber, resin and plastic, she creates tactile, often ambiguous forms that evoke skin, organs and bodily surfaces. Drawing on references to mythology, gender and cultural identity, her work examines contemporary representations of the female body and questions surrounding sexuality, vulnerability and the boundaries between the organic and the artificial.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Kunsthaus Glarus in Switzerland. She received the Illy Prize in 2012 and the Irène Raymond Prize in 2019 and was nominated for the Swiss Art Awards in 2025.
Exhibitions
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Lausanne – Almost forgot, we're moving
Group Show 11 - 21 Mar 2026After seven years at Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet 6, our Lausanne space is preparing to relocate closer to the lake at Avenue d’Ouchy 70, 1006 Lausanne. Over these seven years, we’ve hosted...Read more -
Geneva – Beyond the Surface
Group Show Geneva 11 Feb - 7 Mar 2026This exhibition brings together gallery artists alongside invited artists to explore identity as a shifting and evolving process. Conceived as a journey through artistic techniques, the show invites viewers to...Read more -
Zurich – Metaphors for Gravity
Vanessa Safavi 4 Sep - 22 Nov 2025Metaphors for Gravity marks Vanessa Safavi’s third exhibition at the gallery and introduces her striking new series called « Galaxy Paintings ». These large-format works, evoking fragments of star-filled skies,...Read more -
Good Morning Zurich!
13 - 28 Jun 2025The Opening Show: “ Good Morning Zurich! ” We are presenting a two-week ephemeral exhibition featuring a vibrant mix of works by artists from our program. This show is both...Read more
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From Print to Presence: An Exhibition of Inspiration
March 14 - May 11 in Geneva / March 15 - May 11 in Lausanne 14 Mar - 11 May 2024Step into the dynamic world of "From Print to Presence," where each poster is not just a visual masterpiece but a portal into the profound inspirations that birthed them.Read more -
I feed my dreams slime at night
March 16 to May 6 in Geneva / March 23 to May 20 in Lausanne 16 Mar - 20 May 2023Read more
Video
Installation shots
Press
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Au-delà des apparences
Le Chat Perché , Le Chat Perché, March 4, 2026 -
Al via la 13ma edizione di Art Genève, da locale a internazionale
Rischa Paterlini, Il giornale dell'arte, January 27, 2025 -
Al via la 13ma edizione di Art Genève, da locale a internazionale
La fiera svizzera è contenuta nelle dimensioni (sono 80 le gallerie partecipanti), ma ha un programma variegato e mostra un impegno costante verso la qualitàRischa Paterlini, Il Giornale Dell'Arte, January 27, 2025 -
Dans les galeries avec Laurent Delaloye
Laurent Delaloye, 24 Heures, April 25, 2024 -
Vanessa Safavi expose ses jeux d'adulte
Florence Millioud, 24 Heures, May 8, 2023 -
Fabienne Lévy ouvre une galerie aux Bains
Carole Kittner, Tribune de Genève, March 16, 2023 -
Fabienne Levy neu auch in Genf
Miriam Wiesel, Kunstbulletin, February 28, 2023 -
Le cancer du sein au bout du pinceau
Marion Police, Le Temps, October 9, 2020 -
Rubber Ghosts: Vanessa Safavi Vanessa Safavi in conversation with Yann Chateigné
YANN CHATEIGNÉ, Mousse Magazine, May 2, 2019 -
Vanessa Safavi – Formas Frágiles
Mit Borrás, NEO2, June 13, 2017 -
TOP 6 ARTISTS AT SUNDAY ART FAIR
Hannah Hayes-Westall, FAD Magazine, October 6, 2016
