Hänsli’s interest lies in the static quality of surfaces and the almost infinite possibilities of constructing and shaping them . History, memory, and desire inscribe themselves into the surface of objects; their reproduction becomes a search for traces. Hänsli’s handling of brushes, paints, pigments and glazes is masterful, and he finds an individual solution for every painterly challenge. His pictorial surfaces seduce the viewer to scan the paintings with his or her eyes in order to detect what is hidden.

As an individual, the conceptual artist Hänsli likes to take a backseat; he avoids the personal gesture. As motifs, he often chooses commonplace objects that can hardly be undercut in their prosaicness. He subtly conveys to the viewer that he is concerned with more than a depiction of realities. In their unadorned beauty, the paintings draw our attention to what surrounds us, reminding us that we master much of our everyday lives unconsciously or subconsciously. Accordingly, Hänsli almost always depicts his objects life-sized, and any chosen detail of a picture apparently has no compositional significance. This one step away from artificiality decisively facilitates individual memory and recognition.

Hänsli says of his choice of motifs that an object, an idea for a picture haunts him “until I do it.” Often this compelling necessity arises from the realization that something is doomed, about to disappear. Whether Hänsli portrays an obsolete light switch or an unmade hotel bed, the great themes of transience and absence always accompany him. In none of his pictures will we ever encounter a human being, and yet the images are always imbued with our absurd earthly existence. Without pathos or sentimentality, the objects tell of man’s forlornness in a world that suggests order. Despite their captivating pictorial presence, these modern vanitas motifs manage to create an expression of absence and emptiness that triggers a wealth of associations in the viewer. Here, too, Hänsli’s mastery proves itself.

In addition to Mortadella, nine other works by Christoph Hänsli are on view, created between 1998 and 2012.