Marc Bauer
Fear Rage Desire
Still Standing
The Kunstmuseum Basel presents a project by the internationally renowned Swiss artist Marc Bauer (b. 1975). Bauer’s drawings grapple with history, memory, gender, and identity from a queer perspective. Titled Marc Bauer. Fear Rage Desire, Still Standing, the presentation intertwines motifs from art history, from artists such as Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450-1516) and Nasta Rojc (1883-1964), with photographs from the internet and archival material. Bauer’s work focuses on the construction of masculinity and the violence it unleashes in society and—that is the central theme in this project—against queer people in particular. Tracing a long arc from history to the present, he reveals how deeply entrenched such violence is in social structures.
Bauer’s works are based on extensive research: he reads academic literature, delves into archives, and talks to scholars and experts. One of his interlocutors has been Jonathan D. Katz, who organized, researched, and curated the exhibition The First Homosexuals. He then selects images and writings from a variety of sources, which he translates into a very personal and exceptionally fascinating visual universe that is laced with ambiguity and provokes searching reflections.
Created right on the museum’s walls, Bauer’s mural drawings are destroyed after the end of an exhibition. Visitors are invited to watch him at work on site starting March 4, 2026. The artist will return on two occasions to rework the wall drawings (May 12–17 and November 3–7, 2026). The presentation combines the murals with drawings on canvas and paper and a soundtrack composed by the Berlin-based artists Sin Maldita (Tim Roth) and Philipp Hülsenbeck for a multimedia installation.
Bauer was invited to create this work on occasion of the exhibition The First Homosexuals. The Birth of New Identities 1869–1939, which is on view at the Neubau from March 7 until August 2, 2026.
Photo: Vincent van der Marck © Copyright 2026 Studio Marc Bauer.
Marc Bauer (b. Geneva, 1975) lives and works in Zurich. He studied at the École Supérieure d’Arts Visuels Genève (now HEAD) and at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. He has been a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) since 2015.
His art has been on display in solo projects at renowned international institutions including the Menil Drawing Institute, Houston (2023–2024); the Berlinische Galerie (2020–2021), Berlin; the Istituto Svizzero, Milan (2020); Drawing Room, London (2019); the Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2013), and MAMCO, Geneva (2010). His work has also been showcased in group exhibitions, including at Kunsthaus Zürich (2025, 2019, 2015, and 2008); the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2021); the Migros Museum, Zurich (2019 and 2014); S.M.A.K., Ghent (2015), and the Albertina, Vienna (2015). Bauer moreover participated in the 2018 Biennale of Sydney and the 2014 Liverpool Biennial.
He was awarded the Prix Meret Oppenheim in 2020 and the GASAG Art Prize in 2020 and won the Prix Culturel Manor in Geneva in 2009 and Swiss Art Awards in 2001, 2005, and 2006.
Events for this exhibition
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
10:15–12:00
Mittwoch-Matinée: «The First Homosexuals»
In German: In dieser Matinée widmen wir uns der kommenden Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals». Diese zeigt, wie über blosses gleichgeschlechtliches Verhalten hinaus mit der Prägung des Begriffs «homosexuell» ab 1869 eine neue Identitätskategorie entstand. Kosten: CHF 10 / bis 16 Jahre: CHF 5
VERNISSAGE
NEUBAU
18:30–21:00
Vernissage "The First Homosexuals. The Birth of New Identities 1869–1939" and project launch "Marc Bauer. Fear Rage Desire, Still Standing"
You are invited to the opening of the exhibition "The First Homosexuals. The Birth of New Identities 1869–1939" and to the launch of the project "Marc Bauer. Fear Rage Desire, Still Standing". Participation free of charge
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Führung in der Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals»
In German: Kosten: Eintritt + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Guided tour of the exhibition «The First Homosexuals»
Costs: Admission + CHF 7
CURATOR'S TOUR
NEUBAU
18:30–19:30
Kurator:innenführung in der Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals»
In German: Mit Kurator:in Len Schaller. Kosten: Eintritt + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Führung in der Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals»
In German: Kosten: Eintritt + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Führung in der Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals»
In German: Kosten: Eintritt + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Guided tour of the exhibition «The First Homosexuals»
Costs: Admission + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
12:30–13:00
30 Minuten: Kunst und Aktivismus
In German: Mit Kurator:in Len Schaller. Kosten: Eintritt
GUIDED TOUR
NEUBAU
15:00–16:00
Führung in der Ausstellung «The First Homosexuals»
In German: Kosten: Eintritt + CHF 7
GUIDED TOUR
HAUPTBAU
12:30–13:00
30 Minuten: Geliebter Radrennfahrer
In German: Mit der wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiterin Provenienzforschung Katharina Georgi-Schaub. Kosten: Eintritt
