John M Armleder Reframes Centuries of Art History at MAH Geneva
By Artnet Gallery Network
With a career spanning more than five-decades, Swiss artist and Geneva local John M Armleder has continually engaged with the ongoing evolution of contemporary art; a co-founder of the Ecart Group—rooted in the tenets of Fluxus—and influenced by artists like John Cage as well as the Dada and Abstract Expressionist movements, Armleder’s work uniquely balances wry humor with profound conceptual depth.
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Now, Armleder has taken on a new challenge: the next iteration of the Carte Blanche initiative at the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH) in Geneva, titled “John M Armleder: Observatoires.” Marking the MAH’s sixth such open invitation, Armleder’s curatorial and conceptual project seeks to reframe the museum’s historic collection, offering new perspectives and dialogues between cultural heritage and contemporary art.
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Installation view of “John M Armleder: Observatoires” (2026). Photo: Annik Wetter. Courtesy of MAH, Geneva.
While Armleder’s approach to the project is broadly thematic, with rooms exploring animals, abstraction, musical instruments, and more, the organization of the exhibition is anything but prescriptive or didactic. Instead, in keeping with the artist’s penchant for open-ended possibilities, the show invites visitors to stroll at their own pace and following their own interests.
Armleder also leverages the museum’s historic architecture, playing with how it is perceived. In one room, an oversized disco ball casts a web of light across classical lintels, niches, and bas relief carvings. Another featuring paintings and sculptures of various animals is offset by a wall—typically a solid neutral color—of larger-than-life graphic lobsters. The gravitas of the museum’s spaces and objects are made accessible by the artist’s playful and contemporary interventions, presenting entirely viewpoints for visitors.
Installation view of “John M Armleder: Observatoires” (2026). Photo: Annik Wetter. Courtesy of MAH, Geneva.
Complementing this self-guided exploration of the museum and its holdings as Armleder has organized it are a series of newly commissioned temporary structures that take inspiration from drawings by the artist in the museum’s permanent collection. Juxtaposing these new and moveable spaces within the storied MAH site taps into Armleder’s skill with conceptual themes; here, ideas around space, permanence and impermanence, and the malleability of built environments are brought to the fore through physical experience.
Installation view of “John M Armleder: Observatoires” (2026). Photo: Annik Wetter. Courtesy of MAH, Geneva.
Inviting Armleder to participate in the 2026 edition of Carte Blanche is particularly apropos: not only is he a long-time resident of Geneva and familiar with the museum and its holdings, MAH’s collection features more than 500 works by the artist, ranging from his renowned large-scale “Furniture Sculptures” to other graphic works. By highlighting Armleder as a type of curator of the collection for this initiative, the project is intrinsically turned back in on itself—the role of the artist themselves is examined—and presents an opportunity to highlight how they help underpin and construct the identity of the institution.
“John M Armleder: Observatoires” is on view at the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH), Geneva, through October 26, 2026.
This article was originally published by Artnet News.
