Peter Wüthrich. Ghosts

Peter Wüthrich (b. 1962, Bern) lives and works in Interlaken. Since the early 1990s, his artistic practice has focused on the book, adopted both as subject and as the fundamental material of his work. Whether using intact linen-bound volumes or cutting figures such as angels and butterflies directly into their covers, Wüthrich treats the book as both object and metaphor, ultimately referring to the human condition. In his works, books transcend their physical form to become ambiguous, almost living presences.
Revolving around the solid yet precarious structure of the book, his practice explores construction, color, image, and lettering, offering a poetic reflection on transformation and on the shifting role of media in contemporary society.
Wüthrich has presented solo exhibitions in major institutions worldwide, including Kunsthalle Mannheim, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, MoMA PS1, New York, and CGAC Santiago de Compostela, among others.
In repetitive compositions of linen-bound books, each volume becomes a monochrome block of color, akin to a digital pixel. Their covers evoke a vast universe of references—literature, art, science, philosophy, and mythology—suggesting infinite narratives.
The series Literary Ghosts, in which books are subtly altered with a fine spray of paint, exemplifies Wüthrich’s long-standing investigation into the book as a metaphor for the world, dissociated from its original function and transformed into a sculptural and conceptual presence.