Haus in dem ich wohnte I, 2024

Ruth-Maria Obrist  

Ruth Maria Obrist does not assert; she constructs. Beginning with geometric shapes and precise visual systems, she develops artworks that reveal themselves on multiple levels. Her practice is deeply rooted in the traditions of Minimal Art as well as constructive and concrete art. Rather than relying on individual gestures, Obrist works with a conceptual vocabulary based on strict, logical derivations. Geometry becomes her guiding thread.

With playful virtuosity, she explores the optical tension between arithmetically identical surfaces, shifts between positive and negative forms, and contrasts geometric physicality with two-dimensional drawing. Her creations follow fixed rules, not spontaneity. As she often remarks, mathematical structures offer her stability in an increasingly confusing world. This clarity of thought and form shapes her entire artistic universe.

Ruth Maria Obrist was born on 9 May 1955 in Laufenburg and grew up in Turgi and Untersiggenthal. Since 1993, she has lived and worked in Baden, where her studio continues to serve as the centre of her artistic production. Her career spans more than four decades, during which she has exhibited widely in Switzerland and internationally. She has received numerous distinctions, including the Swiss Federal Grant for Applied Arts in 1983 and 1985, and several residency fellowships in Prague, Paris, and Genoa.

Her body of work has been featured in significant solo exhibitions, including presentations at the Swiss Embassy in Paris (2004), IG Halle Rapperswil (2005), Museum Spörri Wettingen (2015), and Galerie 94, Baden (2018). More recent exhibitions include Kunstraum Baden (2021), foryouandyourcustomers Zürich (2022), and an upcoming solo project at the MERKER-Areal in Baden (2025).

Obrist's work has also been part of major group exhibitions since 2015, such as at Museum Rehmann Laufenburg, Galerie Rosenberg Zürich, Galerie La Ferronnerie Paris, Kunsthaus Zofingen, and several editions at Galerie 94 Baden, including their 10-year anniversary exhibition in 2025.

Her artistic presence extends into the public realm as well. Since 2000, she has created numerous commissions, including wall reliefs, architectural interventions, mosaics, installations in churches and clinics, façade designs, and public sculptures across Switzerland. Highlights include works for Klinik Hirslanden Zürich, the Klosterkirche Windisch, and the Badenfahrt festival in 2023.

Her most recent monograph, (Kerber Verlag, 2022), captures the essence of her artistic philosophy: precision as poetry, and logic as a path to aesthetic clarity.