Christian Coigny is a Swiss photographer with an career in traditional black-and-white and fashion photography. Petra Gut Contemporary AG presents A Storm in Black and White is his first Solo exhibition in Zurich. It presents a comprehensive retrospective ranging over his entire career.
Christian left Switzerland for San Francisco in 1968. He landed an advertising contract with Levi‘s that helped launch his career there.
The artist mainly works with analog materials. His art is grounded in classical training and significantly motivated by prominent American painters like Edward Hopper, Georgia O‘Keefe, and Andrew Wyeth – whom he encountered during his 5-year stay in San Francisco. Companies swiftly requested him to project his signature onto their promotional activities.
The advertising poster for the department store Bon Genie Grieder between 1975 and 1985 marked the beginning of his arrival in Switzerland. These posters were delicately silkscreened by Duo d‘Art, making them matchless within Swiss graphic design history. After returning to Switzerland, Christian Coigny earned several accolades at the Swiss Posters Awards. For ten years, from 1987 to 1997,
Christian Coigny photographed more than 130 personalities from the cultural world sitting on Vitra‘s legendary chairs. His pictures have given life to an advertising campaign launched by “Mister Vitra”, alias Rolf Fehlbaum, for his company.
The celebrated campaign is the subject of several exhibitions around the world. The incredible snaps collected capture the relationships between style and status through iconic figures from art and performance. Coigny managed to take pictures of Charles Bukowski, Audrey Hepburn, Allen Ginsberg, David Hockney, Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Kingsley, Billy Wilder, Franco Moschino, Frank Stella, John Irving,
John Malkovich, Keith Haring, Lou Reed, Louise Bourgeois, Martin Scorsese, Miles Davis plus over one hundred other renowned people. His book of photos of well-known artists got him the Vitra “Celebrities” Campaign.
He also worked for clients such as Hermès, Krug Champagnes, Ferretti yachts, and Hublot watches, and for many years he has participated in creating catalogs and publicity campaigns for Chopard.
Currently, Coigny dedicates the majority of his time to being a photographer specializing in nude, landscape, and still-life photography. Christian‘s work is highly sought after by private and public collectors.
Christian Coigny : A Storm in Black and White
April 14 – May 27, 2023
Petra Gut Contemporary AG
Nüschelerstrasse 31
8001 Zurich
T +41 44 422 40 69
