Caspar Abt
Born in 1948.
Caspar Abt focuses his practice on painting, bringing together landscapes, still lifes, and elements of an almost surreal character. His work has been described as leading “to the shores of perception”, offering a poetic approach to everyday objects rather than pursuing a psychoanalytical aim.
He treats flora and fauna with a heightened realism and, in parallel, produces series of rapid studies — notably of horse-chestnut flowers — that attest to an attentive naturalistic practice. Everyday objects recur frequently in his canvases — fruit, flowers, automobile wrecks — presented sometimes idealised, sometimes dented or decomposing. A recent motif is referred to by the German term Spiegelei (fried egg).
Two poles regularly nourish his imagination: nature and technology, whose confrontation and exchange form a guiding thread throughout his work. This tension is also manifested in motifs connected with transit areas and logistics — vehicles, trailers, containers, and loading scenes. To make these elements surprising, he recycles and combines objects, creates collages, and selects details or framings that alter their familiarity.
His studio is located on the third floor of a building housing logistics companies on the Dreispitz site in Basel, a working context situated on the urban periphery. He collects materials in nature — horse-chestnut branches, cherries depending on the season — which he introduces into his studio and his motifs. The presence of ramps and warehouses, together with the international circulation of vehicles observed around the site, informs his view of objects in transit.
A solo exhibition is scheduled at Galerie Eulenspiegel in Basel from 8 to 31 October 2026. The opening is announced for Thursday, 8 October 2026, from 17:00 to 20:00, with a speech and a reception mentioned in the programme. The gallery is listed at Gerbergässlein 6, 4051 Basel.
