Sylvain Gelewski is an artist and curator who graduated in Contemporary Art Practices from HEAD-Geneva in 2019. His work encompasses painting, installation, writing, performance and curating. He is interested in colour, the news, social media, lists, and the value of work, through a play between norms and their most superfluous details.
From 2014 to 2017, he co-managed the independent music label EICA Records.
From 2019 to 2022, he has been actively fighting for artist’s rights, within the G.A.R.A.Ge collective, among others.
Since 2020, he has been curating exhibitions in the Soul2Soul space in Geneva.
In 2021, he co-founded a trans-disciplinary project named Doppelganger Collective.
In short, if Sylvain Gelewski’s various practices were to be arranged into one single form, it would probably be a Bento.
His work has been presented in Berlin (Archivio Conz, Raum für Sichtbarkeit), Halle (Burg Giebichenstein), Freiburg im Breisgau (E-Werk), Paris (Cité internationale des arts), St. Gallen (Dogo Residenz), Basel (der TANK), Zurich (Toxi), Yverdon-les-Bains (Centre d’Art Contemporain), Lausanne (art&fiction, Fabienne Levy Gallery), Nyon (Usine à Gaz) and Geneva (Flux Laboratory, Théâtre Saint-Gervais, Théâtre de l’Usine, Live In Your Head, Théâtre Pitoëff, Sculpture Garden, Centre d’Art Contemporain).
*1991 Nyon, CH
Lives & works in Geneva, CH
Education
2019 MFA, Work.Master, Contemporary art practices, HEAD–Geneva, CH
2018 Erasmus, Malerei, Painting, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule, Halle, DE
2017 BFA, Représentation, Painting, HEAD–Geneva, CH
Shows (selection)
2023
Bring Your Most Hated Artwork, Toxi, Zurich, CH
Aux Abris, cur. sabl.live, Espace Sud de la Rasude, Lausanne, CH
Naked In The Woods, cur. Cora Lou Gercke, Raum für Sichtbarkeit, Berlin, DE
2022
Aparté 2,Espace Topic, Geneva, CH (solo w. Doppelganger)
Aparté,Lieu Commun, Lausanne, CH (w. Doppelganger)
BANG BANG, program cur. Marie-Eve Knoerle, Tinguely Museum, Basel, CH (w. Doppelganger)
JEUDIS, Centre Culturel des Grottes, Geneva, CH (solo)
2021
Dogo Totale, Dogo Residenz, Lichtensteig, CH
Le Mur_01, cur. Bianca Maria Guala, Le Grain, Geneva, CH (solo)
Dwarfs, Unicorn, Glasses, Dogo Residenz, Lichtensteig, CH (solo)
Mille vues du Salève c’est Possible, dit “La Mouche”, àDuplex, Geneva, CH
2020
I LOVE #ArtisteDici, FMAC, Geneva, CH
Wie zu Hause, wo ich nicht bin, cur. Niels Trannois, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, CH
XXaf Festival, cur. art&fiction, Les Arches, Lausanne, CH
Acrobatic Painting, E-Werk, Freiburg im Breisgau, DE (solo)
Space Invasion, Fabienne Levy Gallery, Lausanne, CH
2019
Fridges are not frigid, cur. Niels Trannois, Archivio Conz, Berlin, DE
DALTON(S), La Fonte, Geneva, CH (solo)
Pratiques de la distraction, cur. Christophe Kihm, Live In Your Head, Geneva, CH
Nothing is something (to an observer), cur. Christophe Kihm, Live In Your Head, Geneva, CH
2018
Carnets, Halle Nord, Geneva, CH
Hermès5, cur. Sophia Schama, Burg Halle, DE
2017 Osmose–Engrenage, Usine à Gaz, Nyon, CH (duo w. collectif Ceres)
Performances (selection)
2022
aMás, cur. Looming Collective, Flux Laboratory, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Jack of all Trades, der TANK, Basel, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Jack of all Trades, Le Groove, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
2021
Who’s Afraid Of?, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, FR (w. Doppelganger)
Strandfigur, Dogo Residenz, Lichtensteig, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Strandfigur, La Fonte, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Service Trois Pièces, Vélodrome, Geneva, CH
2020 Rock Me Baby, cur. Sébastien Mettraux, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Yverdon-les-Bains, CH
2019
Service Trois Pièces, Fureur de Lire Festival, Théâtre Pitoëff, Geneva, CH
The Blazing World, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, DE (w. Maï-Thu Perret)
Noise Action Space Agency, DAF Festival, La Reliure, Geneva, CH
Service Trois Pièces, ACT Festival, Messe Basel, CH
Service Trois Pièces, ACT Festival, Théâtre Saint-Gervais, Geneva, CH
The Blazing World, Spike Island, Bristol, UK (w. Maï-Thu Perret)
2016 Controlled Unpredictability, ACT Festival, Théâtre de l’Usine, Geneva, CH (w. Antoine Siron)
Curating
2023 In Nocens, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
2022
Making Mistakes Is Human, L’erreur Est Humaine, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Pleure-moi une rivière, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Muta, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Encore Heureux, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Click Bait Title, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
I want you so bad, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
2021
Tout ce qui couvrait une vie humaine déjà scintillait, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Warm tales for a dead fire, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
2020
Pourquoi les boites de pizza sont-elles carrées ?, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
Sans chemise, sans pantalon, Sculpture Garden, Geneva, CH (w. Brigida Bocini)
Sealed for your protection, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
2019 Sammelsurium, Espace Cheminée Nord, Geneva, CH
Publications
2023
Capsule 1.84, Valentin Merle, Halle Nord
Rafistolages, Rundgang.io
Razab s’expose avec In Nocens, Vertigo, RTS
2022
Liminality > Doppelganger Collective, LapTopRadio.org
Encore Heureux, KubaParis
Soul2Soul, la musique et l’art contemporain dans l’âme, Le Temps
2021
No risk, no fun, Dogo Residenz (ISBN 978-3-033-08868-9)
Il défend la culture alternative, Tribune de Genève
Pour argent comptant, Le Courrier
Let’s Talk About Cash and Politics in Art, Summe Festival, Basel, CH
2020
Service Trois Pièces, self-publication (ISBN 978-2-940510-57-3)
Why do pizza boxes have a square shape?, Contemporary Art Switzerland
Invasion non agressive chez Fabienne Levy, Tribune de Genève
Service Trois Pièces, LapTopRadio.org
2019
Furieusement livresque, Le Courrier
Klingnau, HEAD–Geneva
2018-2019 KILOMETRES, 5 numbers, ENSP–Arles & HEAD–Geneva, CH (ISBN 978-2-940510-23-8)
Grants/residencies
2022-2023 Residency, PICTO, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
2022
Residency, Looming, Flux Laboratory, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Grant, FMAC, Geneva, CH (w. Doppelganger)
Production grant, FCAC, Geneva, CH (w. Soul2Soul/RU)
Residency, Lieu Commun, Lausanne, CH (w. Doppelganger)
2021
Residency, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, FR
Research grant, Canton of Geneva, CH
Broadcasting grant, OCCS, Geneva, CH
Residency, La Fonte, Geneva, CH
Residency, Dogo Residenz, Lichtensteig, CH
Transformation grant, OCCS, Geneva, CH (w. G.A.R.A.GE)
Transformation grant, OCCS, Geneva, CH (w. Visarte.Genève)
2020 Residency, E-Werk, Freiburg im Breisgau, DE
2019 Production grant, FCAC, Geneva, CH (w. Visarte.Genève)
Professional
2021- Co-founder, Doppelganger Collective, Geneva, CH
2020- Curator, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva, CH
2019-2022
Committee member, G.A.R.A.GE, Geneva, CH
Committee member, Visarte.Genève, Geneva, CH
2014-2017 Co-founder, EICA Records, Geneva, CH
Sylvain Gelewski 