About | PARADISE NOW;

The Artists

Jahic/Roethlisberger are conceptual, media, and installation artists who work with large-scale installations, sculptures, abstract paintings, photographs, and publications. They often collaborate with other artists or the public and are open to using new media and technology, such as NFTs and AI, in their art.

They are known for incorporating everyday objects into their assemblages and using humor and irony to pose philosophical questions about our reality and the world. Jahic/Roethlisberger have a minimalist approach and often explore spatial aspects in their work. They address their own collaborations and those with other artists in their art, such as in their „Artists‘ Recipes“ and „Music“ series.

Their publications, „Artists‘ Recipes“ and „Music,“ are available in museums and stores worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, MoMA PS1 in New York, MOCA in Los Angeles, the Tate Modern in London, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, among others.

The artists exhibited at international art fairs and in galleries until 2015, when they decided to take a sabbatical to reflect on the conditions for artists in the traditional art market. They decided not to return to the old system and have since organized independent exhibitions, often in unconventional places. Their shows typically last only a few days and are very popular. They also collaborate with other artists and advocate for a self-sufficient artist community.

Practice / Paintings

We began work on the „Paradise Now“ series in early 2010 and have continued to expand it periodically, with each season being released every 2-4 years. Currently, the series consists of three seasons: Season 1 (2010-2015), Season 2 (2017), and Season 3 (2022). The „Paradise Now“ series has gained widespread popularity and our works can be found in collections around the world.

Each individual work in the series is produced using a unique color palette created by mixing pure pigments with polyester resin. These colors are then applied to handmade paper. In the execution of the paintings, we work together, responding to each other’s actions according to the principle of action and reaction. This interaction leads to the emergence of unpredictable shapes and patterns, which continue to evolve until the painting is dry. Although the result of each experiment is random, repeated experiments reveal underlying regularities.

This creates a series of works that can be rearranged and combined to form a „family“ of related pieces. The format of the works, 85 x 65 cm, has remained consistent over the years. We also designed the artist frames for the series ourselves.

For us, the process of creation is more important than the final aesthetic result. We are drawn to the interaction and unpredictability of the creative process.

– Jahic / Roethlisberger

NFT's

Based on the recordings of the physical Paradise Now paintings, we are currently working on creating digital abstractions of them. These abstractions will be launched on the Ethereum blockchain as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in 2023. Each NFT will reference a specific physical painting as its „pendant.“

To create these NFTs, we used various digital filters and color modes to enhance the digital versions of the paintings, resulting in unique images. The filters we used allowed us to see color planes that are not visible to the human eye in the physical paintings but are still present in the digital recordings. This process is like digital archaeology, where we use the tools of the digital world to uncover hidden details in the paintings.

We are excited to launch these NFTs in 2023 and hope they will provide a new way for people to appreciate the Paradise Now series.

Books

A publication from Bolo Publishing accompanies each season of Paradise Now. The texts for these books are written by Franziska Mueller, Tobias Lambrecht, and Ines Goldbach (Director of the Kunsthaus Baselland).

Bolo Publishing was founded in 2013 by Admir Jahic and Comenius Roethlisberger as an independent publishing house. Initially, they published their catalogs, but in 2015 they decided to expand their scope and publish a yearbook. This led to the creation of „Artists‘ Recipes,“ which was first presented at Art Basel in 2015. The book combines cooking and art and is now in its third (2022) edition. International artists such as Marina Abramovic, Erwin Wurm, Ólafur Elíasson, and Anish Kapoor, among others, share their favorite recipes, accompanied by drawings, collages, and photographs.

Christie’s included „Artists‘ Recipes“ in its list of „The best art books“ and said: „The book breaks with all the rules of the commercial art world – there’s no agenda or politics – it was created by one artist contacting another artist they know and respect. It’s a beautifully produced book – the cover, in blue, lists all the names of the contributing artists.“

Film

„Get a behind-the-scenes look at Paradise Now with our informative short documentary. Watch as a physical painting is transformed into a unique digital NFT. Although the film features Swiss-German dialogue, English subtitles will soon be available to ensure everyone can follow along.“