Olaf Breuning - Museum zu Allerheiligen

Humans

Olaf Breuning, Leave me Alone, 2024. Courtesy: the artist and Galerie Semiose, Paris.

Olaf Breuning, *Clouds,* 2008. Courtesy: the artist & Galerie von Bartha, Basel

**Olaf Breuning,** *Simple Human,* 2026, Videostill, AI Video, Farbe, Ton. Courtesy: the artist & Galerie von Bartha, Basel

Olaf Breuning (*1970, Schaffhausen) is one of the most internationally successful Swiss artists of his generation. With the exhibition Humans, the artist returns to his birth place—25 years after his first presentation at the Museum zu Allerheiligen.

Breuning’s works playfully alternate between drawing, photography, video, sculpture, and installation. Employing humor, irony, and a deliberately simple visual language, he draws attention to the here and now. His works depict humans in all their contradictions: between curiosity and naivety, progress and irresponsibility.

The focus of the exhibition is how we interact with the world—including the exploitation of resources and the environmental crisis. Breuning unsparingly exposes human weaknesses without ever losing his love for the absurd and the comical. His works invite us to reflect on our behavior—and to draw our own conclusions, navigating the tension between disillusionment and hope.

Curated by Sarah Merten.

Publication
To accompany the exhibition, the catalog Olaf Breuning: Humans will be published by Scheidegger & Spiess. Edited by Sarah Merten, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen. With contributions by Katja Brunner, Heinz Helle, Sarah Merten, and Nadine Wietlisbach. Designed by Hammer. In German and English. Available in the museum shop from mid-July 2026.