Meet the Artists of Art Zug 25
Phil Lofthouse
Phil Lofthouse (b. 1976, Keighley, England) is a British-Swiss artist based in Castrisch, Graubünden. He studied Fine Art Painting in England before moving to Switzerland in 2002. After many years working in education, he
returned to full-time artistic practice in 2021.
Lofthouse’s work investigates the traces left by time, repair and human intervention within the built environment. Rather than depicting architecture directly, he develops abstract systems derived from overlooked details like
window bars, construction marks, removed fixtures, textiles and industrial materials. These observations are translated into restrained visual languages of repeated forms, interrupted grids and layered surfaces.
Working primarily with oil and acrylic paint, spray paint and textiles, his practice balances precision with chance. Carefully measured structures are disrupted by irregularities generated through masking, printing or the
physical behaviour of materials, creating a dialogue between order and imperfection. His recent work explores how systems inevitably fail, shift and adapt, suggesting that vulnerability and deviation are essential parts of
both architecture and human experience.
Lofthouse has exhibited throughout Switzerland, is a member of Visarte
and is represented by Kunstfokus, Zürich. His work has been featured in La Quotidiana and on RTR. He lives and works in Graubünden.
Golnaz Jebelli
Influenced by eastern wisdom and the works of Carl Jung on Archetypes and the Shadow, Golnaz Jebelli’s latest Solo Exhibitions (Beyond Reflections, 2023-2025, Water & Shadow, 2023, The Inner Child, 2022 and Nomads, 2021) focused on the shadow and people. She has participated in several group shows (including The Winter Show, Linden Hall Studio and Works on Paper, The Gallery at Green & Stone).
Her successful collaboration in the creation of the football kit for COMO 1907 FC between 2002-2025, resulted in her being invited to create a series of paintings inspired by Lake Como for the opening exhibition of Galleria Como in November 2023. This project extended beyond the idea of a lake into explorations of the Shadow.
Golnaz was awarded Second Prize for the inaugural Women in Art Fair Prize in 2025, London, UK. Her paintings Shadow III, Mythical Passage, and Seeing the Extraordinary in the Mundane were shortlisted by the College of Psychic Studies for their art Competitions in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Born in India to Persian parents, Golnaz has lived and worked in Sweden, Iran, France and London prior to moving to Switzerland. She studied Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design in Paris and holds First Class LL.B and LL.M. degrees.
Golnaz works with private clients receiving commissions for portraits and collaborates with companies and fashion brands to create abstract artwork commissions. Her work is in a number of private collections across the UK, Europe, United States and Asia.
Hans Galliker
...everything is in flux - just like Hans Galliker's works from the 1990s. Back then, his paintings were created in nature along the Maggia river in Ticino. This Maggia inspiration of flowing continues and is reflected in his current works of art.
During longer stays in Buenos Aires and Berlin, Hans Galliker found his new form of expression: instead of painting along the Maggia, the Rio or the Spree, the magical works are now created in the studio.
The tension-filled compositions and the high-gloss, multi-layered play of colors are full of surprises. The complex spread of the color fields is a typical feature of Hans Galliker's current painting. He uses acrylic paints and various industrial materials.
Hans Galliker was born in 1948 in the canton of Lucerne and lives and works in central Switzerland. His works are in demand internationally and are appreciated by collectors and public institutions. He exhibits his works at galleries and art fairs in Switzerland and abroad.
Kurt Zeltner
STORYTELLER - MUSICIAN - PAINTER
Zeltner was born in 1967 in a farming village near Neuchâtel in Switzerland. After school he attended the School of Applied Arts in Biel /Bienne and the School of Design in Bern. Zeltner was never able to get used to the mechanisms of the “artist’s guild” and as a simple country child in the midst of a family steeped in arts and culture, he always remained an outsider. He rebelled against the art establishment, believing that his rural character was the only thing that was true and should be preserved. He closed himself off to many things whose value he only later recognized. This dichotomie - and the associated homelessness - is partly reflected to his works to this day. While he was the “artist” at home, he always remained the “peasant” among artists.
Romaine Kuonen
The visual arts and theater play a main role in Romaine Kuonen-Walz’s creative work. She uses them as a medium to fuse mysticism, body language, and imagination through performances, objects, and painting. As a producer, she has staged numerous art and performance projects both at home and abroad. Together with her art and performance partner Hadi MohammadKhani—who is based in Iran—she received the International Prize for Innovation and Experimental Art from the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in Tbilisi. In addition to her artistic practice, she has held leadership roles in international humanitarian non-profits and served for years on the cultural commission in Brig. Her exhibitions and artist residencies have taken her to major cities such as Beijing, Paris, Rome, Florence, Milan, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Pristina, as well as across Switzerland. She is based in Bern, where she also maintains her studio and gallery, Spazio Walz.
Max Atanassov
Max is an artist who has moved to Switzerland from London, but has spend portions of his life working and living in Italy, Bulgaria, California, Singapore and Hong Kong, and has visited the homes of Latin American tribesmen and Masai people. Initially he worked in banking and then in various technology startups in the field of nanotechnology and cloud computing, before immersing himself into the world of art. This exposure to multiple countries and cultures has affected his art, which mixes fantasy and reality to explore subjects related to the nature of reality, spirituality, human wishes and desires, as well as the unusual life of ordinary objects. He works mostly with India ink as his main medium. Max’s spouse is a ceramic artist who was present at multiples galleries and events in the UK and Switzerland.
Florian Fuchs
Florian Fuchs (b. 1995) was born and raised
in the Appenzell region. After completing an apprenticeship as a graphic designer and subsequently as a stone sculptor, he took the step toward self-employment in 2020.
Since 2023, Florian Fuchs has been working in his studio in Flawil on sculptures and plastic artworks made of stone, plaster, and bronze. Episodes of human life are at the heart of
Florian Fuchs’s artworks: new beginnings, devotion, pain, hope, abandonment, and transformation.
Inspired by erosive processes, the figures explore the transitions between the human form and organic shapes.
Urs Jaermann
Arturs, also known as Urs Jaermann, is a Swiss artist born in Lausanne, a French-speaking part of Switzerland. Though his early life was influenced by the German-speaking region of Zurich, he later pursued a career in advertising. This career, close to art yet not fully immersed in it, was chosen partly due to his family's apprehensions about the financial instability often associated with artists. Ironically, some of his granduncle's artwork is now exhibited in the art museum of Basel.
After leaving advertising, Urs Jaermann rediscovered his passion for painting. He primarily works with acrylic on canvas, creating pieces that reflect his conceptual approach to art. Now, with a dedicated studio, he fully embraces his artistic journey. Arturs' works are showcased in various exhibitions, and he has received accolades for his artistic achievements.
His art is characterized by a conceptual approach, often infused with a touch of sarcasm or critical humor. Jaermann's work spans various themes including portraits, the state of the planet, and interpretations of nature. His portraits, for instance, are unique in their satirical and humorous depiction of people.
In addition to traditional painting, Jaermann explores contemporary themes such as climate change and societal conflicts, presenting these issues through a more abstract lens. He also delves into nature-inspired art, striving to offer a fresh perspective in a genre that has seen extensive exploration.