Wilde was founded in 2015 in Geneva by Barth Johnson and Sébastien Maret. Since its inception, it’s been integral to the Swiss and international art communities, representing a diverse program and roster of established and young artists. These include artists from the African diaspora, such as Omar Ba, Adel Abdessemed, and Mounir Fatmi, Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar.

In 2019, Wilde opened a second exhibition space, located in Basel. Designed by the French architect Andrée Putman, the interior invites artists and the gallery team to develop exhibitions in tune with the space’s unique design. At the gallery in Basel, Wilde has mounted solo exhibitions with Marina Abramović, Not Vital, Cornelia Parker, and Daniel Canogar, among many others.

Wilde inaugurated a third gallery space in Zurich in 2020. Parallel to representing artists working today, the Zurich location is focused on exhibiting high-quality secondary market works by twentieth-century masters.

In addition to our exhibition program, the gallery’s commitment to the realm of cultural production extends to publications and public projects, just as Not Vital’s project at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, Adel Abdessemed’s latest monograph, Cocorico, with an essay written by Daniel Birnbaum, Dorian Sari’s publication for his exhibition at Kunstmuseum Basel Gegenwart (as the winner of the 2021 Manor Art Price), and Andrea Mastrovito’s upcoming monograph.

After earning an art history degree from the University of Geneva, Barth Johnson (b. 1983) interned at the Galerie Guy Bärtschi in 2006. Later, along with Sébastien Maret, the two took ownership and transformed Galerie Guy Bärtschi into Wilde. Sébastien Maret, (b. 1976) graduated from the University of Geneva with a Masters in Philosophy, followed by a career as a teacher before commencing his 9-year career at Sotheby’s.