At the Fondation Beyeler, step into Pierre Huyghe’s deliciously creepy dystopia

Switzerland’s Fondation Beyeler, in picturesque Riehen on the outskirts of Basel, has proven to have a sharp curatorial eye. Having first opened its doors in 1997, the Renzo Piano-designed modern art museum is a haven in the village, hosting an impressive and frequently changing permanent art collection alongside contemporary retrospectives.

French artist Pierre Huyghe, known for his surreal, dystopian and often creepy works and films, may seem an offbeat choice, but his solo exhibition – his first in a Swiss museum – makes for an immersive takeover of the space.

‘With our permanent exhibition, we often like to react to the contemporary exhibitions currently showing,’ says Fondation Beyeler’s managing director, Ulrike Erbslöh, who works with the institution’s partners, such as Richard Mille, which is supporting this exhibition. ‘There is a kind of reading of the collection, where we see what works and what is relevant for the artist that also challenges visitors, because they come and ask. Since we have a comparatively small collection, we can play around with it.’

This flexibility works well for Huyghe, who resists traditional exhibition formats, focusing instead on creating atmospheric environments through works that take on a life of their own. His site-specific work for Fondation Beyeler creates uncanny worlds that encompass sound and sight.

The effect is subtle. At first glance, what appears to be an empty space is soon revealed to be humming with a dystopian form of life. We glimpse it through the holes in the walls, or feel it in exhaled breaths. A worm, curled up on the floor, slithers from one end of the room to the other, apparently at random. Clear panes of light anchoring the space steadily become misty and opaque. Throughout, Huyghe’s films, including the recent Liminals (2025), show faceless humans navigating unfamiliar realms that sit somewhere between the Earth and space.

It is all brilliantly disorientating, and made all the more so by the masters, including Monet, Picasso and Francis Bacon, who wait to greet you on your exit. ‘We want visitors to be able to just wander around,’ Erbslöh adds. ‘It gives us this possibility to not distinguish too much, but to have people experience the whole idea of our programming – having exhibitions that also refer to our collection, or have some kind of relationship [with it].’

Pierre Huyghe is at the Fondation Beyeler, with support from partner Richard Mille, until 13 September 2026

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