Pascal Vonlanthen

*1957, Rossens, CH. Lives in Fribourg, CH.

Since 2014, Pascal Vonlanthen has drawn the raw material for his work from the texts, headlines and illustrations of local and international printed newspapers.

As an illiterate person and neurodivergent, he interprets printed typography, advertisements, weather reports and other illustrations with a different point of view. Collage and appropriation of printed newspapers have their roots in the early works of Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930) as well as in Cubist and Dadaist works. References to media by artists has been a major component of Modern and contemporary art throughout the 20th century right up to the present day.

With a completely different point of view, Vonlanthen’s practice brings forward a unique counter point to this long relationship between artist and written text.

In 2024, Pascal Vonlanthen and Lovay Fine Arts won the FP Journe Solo Award at the fair Art Genève.

Pascal Vonlanthen works at studio CREAHM-Fribourg in Switzerland.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Christian Berst, Paris: murmurations
Artgeneve Solo Booth: Geneva
Collection de l’Art Brut: Lausanne
CHIZADAILYACEDA: Galerie Le Vite, Milan

Selected Group Exhibitions

Power Station of Art de Shanghai: A Walk on the Wild Side: Artworks from the Collection de l’Art Brut and Elsewhere
Le MAMCO, de mémoire: MAMCO, Genève
Salon du Dessin: Arles, France
Galerie Le Vite, Italy: Galerie Le Vite, Mailand
Wild Expression & Thought: Museum Tinguely, Basel

Selected Collections

MAMCO, Geneva: Geneva
Collection de l’art brut: Lausanne

Selected Press

Bouddha, oignon et écritures abstraites: Patrick Javault, the art newspaper, L'actualité des galeries, 18 april 2025
Lovay Fine Arts remporte le Prix Solo: Sylvie Lefebvre-Guerreiro, La Tribune de Genève, 25 February 2024
Les nouveaux filons de l’art brut: Eric Tarant, Le Temps
L’année des changements: Marie Maertens, Connaissance des arts H.S no. 1060
The Voluble Words of Pascal Vonlanthen: Lucienne Peiry, Raw Vision Issue no. 115, UK
L’Ebbrezza Grafica di Pascal Vonlanthen: Lucienne Peiry, Osservatorio Outsider Art no. 23, Palermo
Lire, Délire: Thierry Raboud, La Liberté, Fribourg
Wo ist Kunst: Das Magazine
The Best of 2015: Valentin Carron, Art Forum
Pascal Vonlanthen: Art Forum

Selected Publications

Pascal Vonlanthen, On Words and Images: Jancou Contemporary, Rossinière
Writing by Drawing. When Language Seeks Its Other: Andrea Bellini and Sarah Lombardi (eds.), Skira, Milan-Paris
Pascal Vonlanthen: Balthazar Lovay (ed.), Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg