A Chair and You Cover

Zoé Barbier-Mueller (ed.)

A Chair and You

Thierry Barbier-Mueller's Collection Staged by Robert Wilson

Conceived as an opera in four acts, the exhibition documented in this book brings to life the chair collection of Swiss entrepreneur Thierry Barbier-Mueller (1960–2023). Through the scenography of the renowned American director Robert Wilson (1941–2025), a succession of evocative atmospheres articulates the sculptural, singular presence of each piece. “A Chair and You” recounts the mise-en-scène of the exhibition. Image sequences convey its dramaturgy while original texts shed light on the exhibition’s genesis, the close relationship between collector and director and the creative dialogue that shaped their project.

Conceived as an opera in four acts, the exhibition documented in this book brings to life the chair collection of Swiss entrepreneur Thierry Barbier-Mueller (1960–2023). Through the scenography of the renowned American director Robert Wilson (1941–2025), a succession of evocative atmospheres articulates the sculptural, singular presence of each piece. “A Chair and You” recounts the mise-en-scène of the exhibition. Image sequences convey its dramaturgy while original texts shed light on the exhibition’s genesis, the close relationship between collector and director and the creative dialogue that shaped their project.

Edited by Zoé Barbier-Mueller

With texts by Thierry Barbier-Mueller, Robert Wilson, Charlotte Savolainen-Mailler, Chantal Prod'Hom

Design: Lars Müller Publishers

16,5 x 23,5 cm, 6 1/2 x 9 1/4

ca 216 pages, ca 153 illustrations

hardback

2026, 978-3-03778-812-7, English
CHF 35.00
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Thierry Barbier-Mueller

Photo Thierry Barbier-Mueller

THIERRY BARBIER-MUELLER (1960–2023) graduated from the University of Geneva  with a law degree and went on to embrace multiple roles: real estate developer, publisher, collector of contemporary art and design, and father of five daughters. In 2000, he became managing director of Société Privée de Gérance (SPG), the real estate company founded by his father, building up significant property development and construction activities in Geneva. A former chairman of the board of Fondation Musée Barbier-Mueller and a member of the Swiss Association  of Art Collectors and of MoMA’s International Council, Thierry Barbier-Mueller devoted  a major part of his life to art. He also initiated a number of awards: the SPG/HEPIA prize  for concepts in landscaping, the SPG  sustainable development prize, and the SPG literary prize.

 

Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson

ROBERT WILSON (1941–2025) was among the world’s foremost theater directors and visual artists. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, he founded the New York-based performance collective The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds in the mid-1960s, and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974–1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). His stage productions are unconventional in integrating a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, music, and text. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures have been presented in exhibitions around the world and have received numerous awards for excellence, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1993 and the Praemium Imperiale 2023 in Tokyo. Robert Wilson founded The Watermill Center, a laboratory for the arts in Water Mill, New York. He passed away there in 2025.