Marguerite Hersberger was born in Basel in 1943. She studied at the Basel School of Applied Arts from 1964 to 1966 before living in Paris from 1967 to 1970 and finally moving to Zurich. Since the 1970s, she has been part of the “Zurich Concretists” group.

Hersberger's artistic language is characterized by geometric forms and intense, vibrant colors. Her early works, the so-called “boîtes magiques”, were small boxes that contained a prism and thus interacted with light. This interplay of color, light and shadow marked the beginning of her exploration of the themes of light and color, stillness and movement. Later, in Zurich, she developed glass boxes with nylon threads (“organization spatiale”), which are stylistically reminiscent of Naum Gabo's works from the 1930s. Her work reflects the constant dichotomy between open and closed form and creates spaces of color and light that immerse their surroundings in a new dimension.

In addition to her glass structures, Hersberger works with acrylic glass and pigments, which she polishes, scratches and paints. She limits herself to elementary geometric shapes such as circles and squares. While some of her circles are arranged concentrically, others appear deliberately displaced, creating a deeply rooted, pictorial movement.

In some works, the light source and construction element merge into a single unit, suggesting connections to artists such as Dan Flavin and Keith Sonnier. However, in contrast to their works, Hersberger's compositions appear self-contained and self-referential. In her most recent works, she condenses colored light spaces into a minimalist essence of form, color and light. Her layers of color, defined by the purity of geometric structures, illustrate the aesthetic power of reduction.

Whether in her murals, light fixtures, three-dimensional objects or photographs - Hersberger creates forms that open up a specific color dialogue in magical transparency. Her art explores the diverse possibilities of formal and color combinations in a deeply subjective, lyrical mode of expression. Her aim is to create a harmony through the abstraction of light, in which clear color contrasts are always in harmony with subtle nuances. Despite deliberately limiting herself to a few basic geometric forms, she succeeds in developing a compositional diversity that exemplifies the universality of a spiritualized formal language.

2023

Marguerite Hersberger - Dem Raum Raum geben, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich

2018

10 Jahre Kunst (Zeug)haus, Kunst-(Zeug)haus, Rapperswil, St. Gallen

2016

Um die Ecke denken – Die Sammlung Haus Konstruktiv von 1986-2016, Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich

2014

Transparenz und Spiegelung, Rehmann Museum, Laufenburg

achse: nizza/ zürich/ karlsruhe, Schauraum multipleart, Zürich

Quadratisch. Praktisch. Kunst. Die Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter zu Gast in Schwäbisch-Gmünd

2011

Museum im Prediger, Schwäbisch-Gmünd

2010

Ganz Konkret - 100 Jahre Entwicklung, Folge 2, haus konstruktiv, Zürich

Hommage an das Quadrat, Werke aus der Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter 1915 - 2009, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch