After two years at the Lausanne School of Fine Arts, Étienne Krähenbühl continued his training in Barcelona and Paris. Returning to Switzerland, first to Agiez and then to his studio in Romainmôtier, he dedicated himself to sculpture and became interested in the traces of time in matter. His encounter with Dr. Rolf Gotthardt, a specialist in shape-memory alloys and superelastic metals at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne), marked a decisive turning point: this collaboration combines science and poetry, delicacy and monumentality, gravity and lightness. In his studio in Yverdon, he pushes the boundaries of metal to reveal its movements and sounds, playing on the contrasts and states of matter – emptiness and fullness, polished and corroded, flexible and rigid – in order to bring to life works that suggest a flight towards other universes.
Since the mid-1970s, Étienne Krähenbühl has exhibited his works in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Switzerland, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the United States. In 2009, he received the Edouard Maurice Sandoz Foundation Prize. Located on the Leclanché site in Yverdon-les-Bains, the artist now has vast spaces that allow him to conceive increasingly ambitious and spectacular projects.
The artist explores the physical properties of materials to create works where sound, movement, and the contrast between monumentality and fragility occupy a central place. “The result of a profound understanding of the expressive potential of matter, Étienne Krähenbühl’s sculptures offer a fascinating reflection on ourselves and our environment” (Joan-Francesc Ainaud).