The latest pocket-sized addition to Swiss photographer Beni Bischof’s eccentric text series Fourth in the series of books by Swiss photographer Beni Bischof (born 1976), Texte 4 ―printed in the standard pocket size―presents texts from his rich collection of catchy headlines and slogans, absurd comments and off-the-wall remarks.
Wild, boisterous and humorous Beni Bischofs mises-en-scne of his unbridled creative urges deftly combine all kinds of media, everything from wall-sized paintings to filigree drawings and grotesque collages, from surreal objects to outlandish mixed-media sculptures. His trenchant artwork reflects both the banality of everyday life and controversial political issues. Bischof virtuosically leads the viewer out onto thin ice to expose the inner workings of the mass media and the illusions of glamour they manufacture.Psychobuch (2014), his first book to be published by Edition Patrick Frey, was at once an overall view of his copious oeuvre and a self-contained artists book unto itself. Texte 1 (2015) came out for the presentation of the 2015 Manor Art Prize and an associated solo show at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen. Texte 2 is the follow-up, another pocket-size volume presenting a mix bag from Bischofs exuberant collection of headlines, slogans, jokes, junk mail, lyrics, dialogues from movie scenes, aphorisms and a whole lot more a present-day selection and yet a subjective quintessence of the textual archive he has amassed over the years.