Hauser and Wirth takes part in Zurich Art Weekend

Installation view above and below, ‘Ed Clark. Paint is the Subject’ at Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Limmatstrasse, 13 June –13 September 2025. ©The Estate of Ed Clark. Courtesy the Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Jon Etter.

Opening during Zurich Art Weekend 2025, Hauser & Wirth's Limmatstrasse location will present a showcase of selected masterpieces from the oeuvre of American artists Pat Steir and Ed Clark. ​Titled ‘Ed Clark. Paint is the Subject,’ this is the first solo exhibition in Switzerland dedicated to Clark, who is regarded as a pioneering American abstractionist. This impressive show brings together abstractionists' masterpieces spanning seven decades, and provides a rare opportunity to experience the full scope of Clark’s work, placing him in relation to diverse histories of abstraction.

Several works by Clark are also currently on view in Paris as part of the exhibition ‘Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950–2000’ at the Centre Pompidou (19 March–30 June 2025). His inclusion highlights the important African American diaspora working in Paris and the long-standing influence of Europe on his practice, situating his work within broader transatlantic narratives. However the Zurich exhibition provides a rare opportunity to experience the full scope of Clark’s practice, placing him in relation to diverse histories of abstraction and highlighting the enduring relevance of his work. 
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The highlights of the show are Clark's dynamic large-scale paintings and works on paper, as well as early works and an example of his use of the shaped canvas. Archival images and records accompany the exhibition, charting the development of his avant-garde style and enduring influence on modern painting. A member of the New York School, Ed Clark contributed towards redefining abstraction in the 1950s with two characteristic features—the deployment of the shaped canvas and his unconventional use of a household broom to create sweeping, gestural compositions—the show’s title coming from a quote by the artist indicating the centrality of his medium to his work. Stylistically, his work bridges the physicality and spontaneity of Abstract Expressionism with the structured clarity of hard-edged abstraction, cementing his significance in postwar painting.


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