# Severin Hallauer

Severin Hallauer (born 1996 in Basel, Switzerland) is a Swiss visual artist, actor, and model living in Mexico City and Zurich.

## Biography

Hallauer was born in 1996 in Basel and grew up in the rural Northwestern Switzerland. From 2013 to 2014, he completed the preparatory course at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel. In 2014, Hallauer was arrested by the police during an art action at Art Basel on the Messeplatz. The incident attracted attention in the international art world and made headlines.
After completing the preparatory course, Hallauer acted as an actor at the Theater Basel. In 2015, Hallauer made headlines with an art action in which he appeared naked and painted white for the mandatory conscription of the Swiss Army. From 2015 to 2019, Hallauer completed the Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Zurich University of the Arts and in 2018 in the Jankowski class of the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. In 2019, Hallauer made headlines again during the Sofia Art Week in Bulgaria with a public art action that went viral. In this art action, he appeared naked on monuments, including the famous lion statues in front of the Palace of Justice in Sofia.
Severin Hallauer received the 2021 Award for Visual Arts from the Canton of Solothurn. Also in 2021, Hallauer emigrated to Mexico, where he has since lived and worked in Mexico City alongside his second residence in Zurich.
Hallauer expresses himself in compelling performances and works in various media on philosophical and socio-political issues. His oeuvre includes performance, installation, video, sculpture, painting, and photography.
In addition to his work as a visual artist, Severin Hallauer also appears as an actor and model. Recently, Hallauer was seen in the award-winning short film Heart Fruit by Kim Allamand at the Locarno Film Festival and other international festivals. In 2018, Hallauer performed in The Divine Comedy by Rirkrit Tiravanija at the Fondation Beyeler.

## Quotes

   Obstacles are challenges in which one can fail iconically at best. Creating art means learning to fail better.

## Criticism

Severin Hallauer's work polarizes and receives both recognition and critical feedback. Some critics praise his work as a bold and profound engagement with social and philosophical issues. Others see his actions as excessive self-promotion aimed at scandals. In 2024, Hallauer responded to this criticism in an interview, saying, "Scandal plays no role in my work. I don't sit in my studio imagining how I can provoke my fellow humans. It's an uncompromising honesty that I demand from my art. […] If viewers feel provoked by my art, it says more about them than about me and my art."

## Awards

* 2021: Visual Arts Award of the Canton of Solothurn

## Exhibitions (selection)

* 2018: Academiae – Youth Art Biennial, Franzensfeste
* 2019: Das Unbegreifliche Schweigen Der Welt, Gasträume 2019 | Zurich
* 2019: what do you want me to believe in?, Æther Art Space, Sofia Art Week, Sofia
* 2021: Infinitum You, Allda, Zurich
* 2021: InRelation, I see you now, Schlumpf, Riehen
* 2021: Loving Switzerland, Künstlerhaus S11, Kantonale Förderpreise 2021, Solothurn
* 2022: entrée&hommage, M54, Basel
* 2023: Eros Y Ambigüedad, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Mexico City
* 2023: Eros Y Ambigüedad, Galeria Revuelta, Mexico City
* 2024: Radical Joy, Riverfront Art Gallery, Yonkers Public Library, Yonkers, New York

## Performances (selection)

* 2015: L‘individue neutre, Rekrutierungszentrum, Windisch
* 2016: In between the complexes, ACT Performance Festival 16, Théâtre de L‘Usine, Geneva
* 2017: J’ai tué mon ami, ACT Performance Festival 17, Merian Gärten, Basel
* 2017: reflection, Kunstfreitag, Kunstverein, Friedrichshafen
* 2019: duality, Sommerfest, Kunsthalle Bern
* 2019: nude and monument, Sofia Art Week, Æther Art Space Sofia
* 2019: redshift, Kunstraum Aarau
* 2020: I just want to be (in)visible, Queer Sex Health Festival, Kosmos, Zurich
* 2020: Surfaces, Bagno Popolare, Baden
* 2020: Unos Pro Omnibus Omnes Pro Oeconomia, Paradeplatz, Zurich

## Filmography (selection)

* 2017: Carvel – Fall For Me (Music video)
* 2017: Len Sander – Woman On The Run (Music video)
* 2017: Space Tourists – Dagger Child (Music video)
* 2018: Enoxaiar (Short film)
* 2019: nothing is quite as it seems (Fashion film)
* 2019: The Burden Remains – Fluid (Music film)
* 2021: Heart Fruit (Short film)
* 2021: Livia Rita – Muscle of Freedom (Music video)

## Theater (selection)

* 2015: Hamlet, Theater Basel
* 2016: Médée, Opera, Theater Basel
* 2017: Es war ein mal ein Einsam, Theater in allen Räumen 17, Theater der Künste, Zurich
* 2018: Lachsfrühstück für 1 Person, Theater in allen Räumen 18, Theater der Künste, Zurich
* 2019: I say I shoot you. you are dead, Gruppe CIS, Theater Rampe, Stuttgart, Sophiensääle, Berlin
* 2020: Abschied, Festival der Liebe VI, Kulturhaus Helferei, Zurich