The Central Library is the cantonal, municipal and university library of Zurich and, with over 6.6 million media and half a million visitors per year, one of the largest libraries in Switzerland. But the Central Library is also a venue where the ...
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Interview: Martin Schwarz, publisher
A conversation between the artist Martin Schwarz and Jochen Hesse, Head of the Print Collection and Photo Archive
Martin Schwarz (born 1946 in Winterthur) is one of Switzerland’s leading contemporary artists. Since the 1960s, he has been working at the intersection of painting, object art, photography and publishing. He gained international recognition for his art about art, in particular through his interpretations of popular artists of Classical Modernism, his postcard collages, book objects and his participation in documenta 6 in Kassel in 1977.
Over more than six decades, he has developed a unique universe in which art history, literature and personal mythologies merge to form ever-changing visual and conceptual spaces. Schwarz engaged intensively with the philosophers Nietzsche and Heidegger. Since 1986, he has been creating what are known as ‘Nichtsbilder’. For the artist, nothingness is not an empty space, but a philosophical and artistic experience. It manifests itself as absence, transience, disappearance and as a questioning of supposed certainties. His art seeks to make this invisible visible.
Schwarz sees himself as an artist of ideas and concepts. In addition to exhibitions at home and abroad, he has produced numerous publications and editions. Working on books for his own publishing house, Eigenart-Verlag, founded in 1981, brings, as he himself puts it, ‘order to the structure of thought’. For him, the publishing house is the continuation and interpretation of his body of work. He dedicated his first publication to his exploration of the painter-poet Gottfried Keller. Many of his publications are characterised by a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ aesthetic, reminiscent of the art chamber in his studio at the Baroque castle of Bartenstein in Baden-Württemberg.
New publication: Bettina Sitter and Martin Schwarz, Nelli Mutter: The Art of Thread and Dialogue of the Hearts, Winterthur, Eigenart-Verlag, 2026
Original works by the artist are on display in the hall.
Seating is limited. Please register by 5 November 2026.
For ZB events (guided tours, educational programmes, lectures), audio aids (including induction loops for hearing aids) are available for people with hearing impairments. If required, please contact kommunikation@zb.uzh.ch.
Header image: Detail from Martin Schwarz, Zurich – Sphinx, 2000
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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Collab Space
18:00 - 19:30 o'clock
Collab Space
Accessibility:
Infos Zugänglichkeit:
Building is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchair accessible toilet available.
