Urs Lüthi
Born in 1947.
Urs Lüthi is a conceptual artist whose documented work focuses on the exploration of identity and sexual identity, recurrently employing androgyny and cross-dressing. After briefly studying at the Zurich University of the Arts in 1963–1964, he turned to photography from 1969 onwards, following a short initial period in painting. His first recorded public presentation dates to 1966 at Galerie Beat Mäder in Bern, and in 1970 he took part in the exhibition Visualisierte Denkprozesse at the Kunstmuseum Lucerne, where he created a double within an installation.
Lüthi’s practice is documented as multidisciplinary: photography, sculpture, performance, screen printing, video and painting are listed in the entries concerning him. A one-year stay in the United States in 1977 is attested in the biographical file. Among the recent series noted, the documents mention Placebos and Surrogates (2000), as well as the series Art is the Better Life, initiated in the early 2000s.
Academically, he has been listed as holding a teaching position at the Kunsthochschule / School of Fine Arts in Kassel since 1994. Recorded distinctions include the Arnold Bode Prize of the City of Kassel in 2009 and, in the consulted entries, the City of Lucerne Art and Culture Prize in 2010. In 2001, he represented Switzerland at the 49th Venice Biennale, transforming the Swiss Pavilion into an installation space documented by the sources.
A monographic exhibition entitled «URS LÜTHI. L’UNE OU L’AUTRE VÉRITÉ» is listed at the Musée des beaux-arts Le Locle (MBAL) until 1 March 2026, according to the announcement consulted. Finally, certain entries in the file refer, according to one source, to an influence exerted on Lou Reed and the album Transformer; this assertion is reproduced here with the qualification contained in the file.
