Loredana Sperini
Biography
Loredana Sperini (b. 1970, Wattwil, Switzerland) is a Swiss artist based in Zurich whose multidisciplinary practice spans embroidery, drawing, sculpture, and encaustic painting. She first gained recognition with hand-embroidered portraits of friends, transforming photographic and drawn sources through meticulous, meditative textile work. Her later projects include large-scale wax paintings and mirror-based installations in which grotesque, schematic figures and fragmented reflections merge surface and depth. Sperini’s interest in melting, casting, and material immediacy drives her experimentation with wax and polymorphic plastics, pushing the boundaries of objecthood and image. Her works are included in major collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, the Museum of Fine Arts Bern, MASI Lugano, and the Julius Bär Art Collection. She is the recipient of fellowships and awards including the Art Prize of the Ortsbürgergemeinde St. Gallen and a Canton of Zurich grant.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno, Switzerland
2022
Hans Josephsohn & Loredana Sperini, ZHdK NEST, Zurich, Switzerland
2019
another long evening, Kunstverein St. Gallen – Schaufenster in der Stadt, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2018
SACROSANCTUM .7, Oratorio di San Mercurio, Palermo, Italy
2016
True Blue, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (catalogue)
Last Door, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
2015
si fa sera, Fondation du Château de Gruyères, Gruyères, Switzerland
2014
mi ritorna in mente, Kunsthalle São Paulo, Brazil
2012
Tanja Roscic / Loredana Sperini, Neuer Kunstverein Wien, Wien, Austria
2011
dietro la porta, Grieder Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2007
quante brave persone, la rada, Locarno Switzerland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026
Kunst(Zeug)Haus, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland (upcoming)
TO HOLD AND BE HELD, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
2025
VOID VORTEX – Sammlungsausstellung, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland
Whispers in the Attic, Estrich 401, Zurich, Switzerland
2024
Trauern. Wenn Raum und Zeit verloren gehen, Friedhof Forum, Zurich, Switzerland
Liquid Shelter (with Andrea Heller), Kupper Modern, Zurich, Switzerland
2023
Schildkrötentempel, Rehmann Museum, Laufenburg, Switzerland
REFAIRE CORPS, lighthaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Hauser & Wirth Collection, Henau, Switzerland
2022
NEW NORMAL, Kunstraum Engländerbau, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
2021
(un)familiar, Galerie Haas, Zurich, Switzerland
Heimspiel, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland
2020
Sommer des Zögerns / Summer of Suspense, Kunsthalle Zurich, Switzerland
Wenn du geredet hättest, Atelier Hermann Haller, Zurich, Switzerland
2019
IMAGO – Geschichtsbilder, Frauenbilder, Spiegelbilder, Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal, Switzerland
Grande Female, BolteLang, Zurich, Switzerland
Lies About, Gussglashalle, Berlin, Germany
2018
redeemed from ruins. free from consequences of sin, la rada, Locarno, Switzerland
2016
WAX, Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea, Palermo, Italy
2015
Hauser & Wirth Collection, Henau, Switzerland
Inhabitations. Phantasmen des Körpers in der Gegenwartskunst, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
Heimspiel 2015, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Switzerland
2014
Broken Inheritance, Clifton Benevento, New York, USA
Collection on Display, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland
2010
Voici un dessin suisse 1990–2010, Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland
2009
Shifting Identities. (Swiss) Art Now, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
In This World, Holster Projects, London, UK
2008
Ausländer in Berlin, Critic Contemporary Art, Brescia, Italy
Shifting Identities. (Schweizer) Kunst heute, Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland
Grants/Scholarships
2020 Work scholarship, Landis und Gyr
2017 International Art Prize of the Province of Vorarlberg
Cultural award from the city of Zurich
2015 Art prize awarded by the local community of St. Gallen
2014 Work contribution from the Canton of St. Gallen
2006 Studio scholarship, Landis and Gyr
Cahiers d’Artistes, Pro Helvetia (publication)
2004 St. Gallen Cultural Foundation Award, St. Gallen
2003/04 Federal Prize for Fine Arts
Work contribution by the City of Zurich
2003 Studio scholarship Stiftung Binz39
Work contribution from the Canton of Zurich
2002 Grant for fine arts from the canton and city of Lucerne