With the exhibition "The Sea in the Mountains", the Bündner Kunstmuseum presents a central perspective on the work of Leiko Ikemura. The Japanese-Swiss artist is today regarded as one of the leading voices in international contemporary art. Her oeuvre spans painting, sculpture, and installation, exploring the transitions between human beings, nature, and the cosmos. A decisive turning point in Ikemura’s artistic development took place in 1989 in the mountains of Graubünden. The direct experience of nature led to a fundamental reorientation of her painting, in which the human figure began to dissolve into an infinite space of landscape and existence. Returning to this place thus marks not only a geographical, but also an artistic and biographical connection. The exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, and a film projection that, in combination, create a multilayered spatial constellation. Opposites such as loss and renewal, change and rootedness enter into a dialogue that has shaped Ikemura’s work for decades.
LEIKO IKEMURA
The Sea in the Mountains, Bündner Museum Chur, CH
20 August – 23 November 2025
