THE SPACE BETWEEN – CASPER FAASSEN: BILDHALLE ZURICH

The Space Between brings together works from Casper Faassen’s acclaimed Landscape and Movement series. Through a subtle dialogue between these two bodies of work, the exhibition explores the relationship between presence, absence and the space in between.

The selection of landscapes, botanical studies and new movement works presented in this exhibition reveal the subtle connections running throughout Casper Faassen’s practice and visual language; it is shaped by the Japanese notion of Ma – the understanding that empty space is never empty, but holds as much meaning as the forms it surrounds. Bringing together landscapes, including works from the Swiss Alps, alongside newly produced movement studies made in collaboration with principal dancer of Ballett Zürich Ayaha Tsunaki, the exhibition reflects Faassen’s ongoing exploration of the void as a space of possibility.

A key inspiration for Faassen is Pine Trees (Shorin-zu byobu), the late sixteenth-century

folding screen by Tohaku Hasegawa, depicting pine trees emerging from and dissolving into mist in ink on paper. The work embodies the essence of Ma, where obscurity is as expressive as form. Echoing this delicate balance, Faassen’s landscapes dissolve into veils of mist, while the dancer, dressed in a black kimono, recalls the silhouetted pines of Hasegawa’s composition.

The exhibition’s title reflects the many dimensions of “the space between” that define Faassen’s work: the distance between artist and subject, the threshold between movement and stillness, and the layered surfaces through which his images are created. Combining photography, painting and printmaking, he builds each work through successive translucent layers, often finished with his signature craquelure. These layers do more than shape the image – they create spaces where time, memory and perception converge, allowing the visible and the invisible to coexist.