The exhibition is soberly entitled Gemälde, "paintings" in German. And indeed those are monumental colorful abstract paintings that Linus Bill and Adrien Horni present. But when their productions ostensibly refer to a glorious history of American painting by taking the look of abstract expressionism decripted by renowned art critic Clement Greenberg, the two Swiss artists engage in an art that defeats the romantic heroism of the great modernist masters.

Here, no pictorial automatism to ensure authenticity and integrity of the work but a creative process matured in playful collaboration, ongoing negotiation and crossover looks and desires. It is not surprising to learn that the two began their collaboration with graphic design. They firmly anchored their production logics in the legacy of functionalist utopia such as Bauhaus.

Before nay painted achievement, Linus Bill & Adrien Horni draw, cut, paste, scan, share and discuss up to produce a black and white model. This is then recorded with many others in the pages of a book. Thus, Gemälde 2013-2017 – this is title of their latest book – brings together more than 350 potential paintings to be realised in the given period. Sort of anti-catalog preexiting the works, it somehow is both an almanac of their desires to paint and make images exist, and a commissions inventory.

And depending on their exhibitions opportunities, they operate a choice within its pages. With the tools of painting and screen printing, the image is then enlarged to monumental scale and translated into color.