Alan Bogana was born in 1979 in Switzerland.
He’s a pluridisciplinary artist based in Geneva, Switzerland. His art practice involves sculpture, computer graphics, electronics, time-based media and holography, and his works are usually presented in the form of installations.

During the last years his research has focused on the exploration, real and fictional, of the behavior of light and its interactions with matter. He investigates this broad field of study through various means, such as computer graphics simulations of impossible phenomena or the manipulation of translucent, phosphorescent and holographic materials.

He completed a Fine Arts Diploma with honors at the Geneva University of Art and Design, a specialization in computer graphics and one in artistic research methodologies at the Zürich University of Art and Design. He exhibited in Europe, in the United States, in the Emirates and in South Africa. He has been artist in residence at the Swiss Institute in Rome, at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, at the Sommerakademie Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, in Cape Town with Pro Helvetia and in Zug with the Landis & Gyr Foundation.

Curriculum Vitae

Education
2012-13
– ZHDK, Zürich and HEAD, Geneva – CAS Program on artistic research methodologies
2004-09
– Haute Ecole d’Art et Design, Geneva – HES HEA Diploma in Visual Arts with honours
2007
– National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, exchange program
2006
– Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom, exchange program

Solo shows
2020
– Swiss Media Art, HeK, Basel, CH
2019
– Phlogistronic Dandelions, Smena Art Center, Kazan, RU
– Spherical Bastards, KulturFolger, Zürich, CH
– The Bally Stimmen, Bally Foundation, Milan, IT
2018
– Boganium, Handwavium et les autres, Mineralogy Museum MINES-ParisTech, Paris, FR
2017
– Surely Many Very Early Men Just Sat Under Native Palms, La Rada, Locarno, CH
– Gamma Pool Confabulations (in collaboration with Hunter Longe), Lokal-int, Bienne, CH
2016
– Transmutations I, OnOff, Winterthur, CH
2015
– The Hypothetical Cabinet of Phlogistronics, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal, CH
– Consider that and measure, measure and receive the carmine, One Gee in Fog, Geneva, CH
2013 
– Tony and the Shape Junkies II, Hard Hat, Geneva, CH
– Tony and the Shape Junkies, Espace Duplex, Geneva, CH
2012 
– Persistence of persistence  Orchids, prisms and lenses, Usine Kugler, Geneva, CH
2011
– Opuntiarium — No Present, Blank Projects, Cape Town, ZA
2009
– Morlockian mockups and Eloian prototypes, Galerie Ruine, Geneva, CH

Group shows, screenings and talks
2021
– Space Oddity, UCCA Dune, Beijing, CN (upcoming)
2020
– Artistes DICI, FMAC, Geneva, CH
– Broken
Symmetries, KUMU, Tallinn, ET
– HabitatMorcote, CH
– Da ieri a oggi, Museo d’arte, Mendrisio, CH
2019 
– 1000 Ecologies, Utopiana, Le Commun, Geneva, CH
– Simetria Talk, Osmoscosmos, Centre de la photographie, Geneva, CH
– Pax Art Awards, HeK, Basel, CH
– Cabinet des corps exquis, Musée de l’Ariana, Geneva, CH
– Memoria del sublime (cur. Carole Haensler), Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, CH
– Artist Talk, Webster University, Geneva, CH
2018
– Artist Talk, Smena Gallery, Kazan, RU
– Artist Talk, Lumpen Universität, Espace Libre, Bienne, CH
– Art Paris Art Fair, projection on the Grand Palais façade (cur. Karine Tissot), Paris, FR
– Solitudes molles (cur. collectif détente), Espace Temoin, Geneva, CH
– Artist Talk, Trafic Home Cinema, Lausanne, CH
2017
– Situations #100, Kurzfilmtage Festival invited by the Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH
– Ex Situ. Samples of Lifeforms, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhague, DK
– The best of bees, Duplex, Geneva, CH
– Metamorfosi, Museo d’Arte, Mendrisio, CH
2016
– Catch of the year 2016, Dienstgebäude, Zürich, CH
– Gleis70, Zürich, CH
– The Afterlife of Minerals, LASER Talks (with Ulrike Kastrup), Salotto, Zürich, CH
– Che c’é di nuovo, MASI, Lugano, CH
– Che c’é di nuovo, Dienstgebäude, Zürich, CH
2015 
– Cinem’Artistes, Ferme de la Chapelle, Grand-Lancy, CH
– Clouds in the Cave, Fri-Art, Freiburg, CH
– Voglio vedere le mie montagne, MAGA, Gallarate, IT
– FMAC Collection, ArtGenève 2015, Geneva, CH
– Swiss Evening, Cité des Arts, Paris, FR
2014
– Lissignol Grant Show, CAC, Geneva, CH
– ISEA 2014, Dubai, UAE
– Megarave-Metarave, Kunsthaus, Langenthal, CH
– Vues d’ici, Halle Nord, Geneva, CH
– Swiss Art Awards 2014, Basel, CH
– Triennale d’art – Valais 2014, Fully, CH
– Spazi Aperti, Accademia di Romania, Rome, IT
– 14th Biennial Arts and Technology Symposium, Ammerman Center, New London, Connecticut, USA
2013
– Mensch-Maschine-Karaoke (happening), Espace Echallens 13, Lausanne, CH
– Verena, Espace Kugler, Geneva, CH
– Virtual Showroom, Bureau Culturel, CH
– Substance, HEAD stand, ArtGenève Fair, Geneva, CH
2012
– A strangely luminous bubble, LiveInYourHead, Geneva, CH
– Different Strokes, Hard Hat, Geneva, CH
– Overgamed, Villa Dutoit, Geneva, CH
– Sociologie, anthropologie, géographie, histoire, qu’il est vaste le champs cognitif…, Piano Nobile, Geneva, CH
2011
– Alptraum, Blank Gallery Cape Town, ZA
– The difference between here and here, Rotterdam VHS-Festival 17, Rotterdam, NL
– Môtiers 2011 — Art en plein air, Môtiers, CH
2010  
– Art is out there, Galerie J, Geneva, CH
– Swiss Art Awards, Basel, CH
2009
– The difference between here and here, Saison Vidéo #33, Lille, FR
– Greased LightningHEAD 2009 diploma show, CIC, Geneva, CH
– The 2fdqs show. Prism Showroom Cinema, Sheffield, UK
2008
– The difference between here and here, The Wharf Road Project, V22, London, UK
2007 
– The chicken or the egg, Electric rendez vous, Plug-in, Basel, CH
2006 
– Bauer C61, Act06, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, CH

Publications
2019
– Memoria del Sublime, Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, CH
2018
Djerassi SDM Gallery, Leonardo Journal (Vol 52 / Issue 3), MIT Press, USA
2017

– Metamorfosi, Museo d’Arte, Mendrisio, CH
2016
– Che c’è di nuovo, MASI, Lugano, CH
2015
– The Hypothetical Cabinet of Phlogistronics, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal, CH
– Sommerakademie Zentrum Paul Klee 2014, Bern, CH
2014
– ISEA 2014, Dubai, UAE
– La linea della palma, Nero, Rome, IT
– Spazi Aperti, Accademia di Romania, Rome, IT
– Nero – Supplemento L’Aquila, Nero Magazine, Rome, IT
2011
– Môtiers 2011  Art en plein air, Môtiers, CH
2008
– 2031, Head, Geneva, CH

Residencies, Grants and Awards
2020
Artist in Residence, Pro Helvetia, Shanghai, CN (rescheduled)
– Video Art production grant, FCAC, Geneva, CH
2019
– Pax Art Award, Basel, CH
Simetrìa, Residency program at CERN, CH and at ESO and ALMA Observatories, together with artist Nicole L’Huillier, CL
2018
– Scientific Delirium Madness, Djerassi Residency, San Francisco, USA
– Grant from Société des Arts, Geneva, CH
– Bally Artist Award, Lugano, CH
– Grant for the arts, FMAC Geneva, CH
2017
– Grant for the arts, FMAC, Geneva, CH
2016
– Grant for the arts, Pro Helvetia, CH
2015
– Artist in Residence, Landis & Gyr, Zug, CH
– Artist Studio, Maison des arts du Grütli, City of Geneva, period 2016-19, CH
– Grant for the arts, FMAC, Geneva, CH
– Grant for the arts, FCAC, Geneva, CH
2014
– Artist in Residence, Grant Simon I. Patiño / Geneva, Cité International des Arts, Paris, FR
– Summer Academy, Guest curator Raimundas Malašauskas, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, CH
– Grant for the arts, DIP, Geneva, CH
2013
– Artist in Residence, Swiss Institute, Rome, IT
– Studio Roma Grant, Swiss Institute, Rome, IT
– Grant for the arts for residency in Rome, Ticino and Geneva Canton, CH
2011
– Artist in Residence, Pro Helvetia, Cape Town, ZA


Public Collections
– Museo d’arte, Mendrisio, CH
– PAX Art Foundation, Basel, CH
– HEK, Haus der Elektronische Künste, Basel, CH
– Ticino public collection (MASI), Lugano, CH
– Fonds cantonal d’art contemporain (FCAC), Geneva, CH
– Fonds d’art contemporain de la Ville de Genève (FMAC), Geneva, CH
– Institut de hautes études en administration publique (IDHEAP), Lausanne, CH