Séverin Guelpa (b. 1974, Geneva, CH) is a contemporary visual artist living and working in Geneva.
His work is rooted in fragile, exposed and threatened territories, places where the tensions between nature, resources, economy and human survival are most acutely felt.
In a time defined by climate disruption, resource depletion and the accelerating circulation of matter and energy, Séverin Guelpa develops a committed and sensory practice in which landscape becomes material and material becomes a language. For several years, he has travelled through deserts, arid regions, industrial zones, and shifting geographies, seeking to extract from them a physical and poetic truth. Guelpa’s approach is grounded in immersion, often through long-term residencies or expeditions. He settles into a place, observes, collects, and documents. Operating at the intersection of artistic gesture and field research, he investigates the complexity of a territory through moving and still images, sound recording, and the collection of raw materials, stone, earth, minerals, water, metal, which are later reintroduced into his installations. Each work becomes a direct imprint of a place, transforming its telluric forces into an artistic vocabulary.
Through his projects, Guelpa questions the relationships between nature and culture, forms of resistance and adaptation, and the tension between fragility and power. By giving substance to matter and voice to silence, he creates sensitive environments where sculpture, installation, architecture, and immersive film converge. His work invites us not so much to represent the world as to experience it, through large-scale, physical encounters that encourage viewers to move, listen, and inhabit space.
Following projects in the Mojave Desert (2014–2017), on the Aletsch Glacier (2016–2018), on the Kerkennah Islands in Tunisia (2017), and in several Swiss cities, MATZA, the collective platform he founded—expanded to Colombia (Medellín and Cúcuta) and Kenya (Nairobi) between 2022 and 2023. Guelpa currently works between the Mojave Desert (California), the Swiss Alps, and the Salar de Atacama (Chile), continuing his exploration of extreme territories and resource landscapes.
Since 2014, Séverin Guelpa has been invited to take part in numerous exhibitions, biennials, and major international events. His work has been presented at institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Museu do Amanhã in Rio de Janeiro, and at international biennials including Mongolia, Athens, and Larnaca (Cyprus). These invitations reflect the recognition of a practice that places materiality and territory at the core of contemporary artistic inquiry. Originally trained in political science, Séverin Guelpa later obtained a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from HEAD (Haute École d'Art & Design), Geneva. He has since been invited to present his work and to lead lectures and workshops at numerous institutions, universities, and art schools in Switzerland and abroad.
