Lenz publishes books on contemporary art, photography, architecture and design.
Our imprint includes catalogues, monographs, theory and artist books.
Catalog of the eponymous exhibition, held at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève and curated by Andrea Bellini, this publication brings together a number of essays that explore the notion of metamorphosis from different perspectives. The catalog, like the exhibition, celebrates a world in constant transformation, where human nature is fluid and hybrid, open to change.
Ce catalogue de l’exposition éponyme, organisée au Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève sous la direction d’Andrea Bellini, rassemble plusieurs essais qui explorent la notion de métamorphose sous différentes perspectives. Le catalogue, comme l’exposition, célèbre un monde en constante transformation, où la nature humaine est fluide et hybride, ouverte au changement.
Fredrik Værslev: The Garden Paintings is the first publication dedicated solely to one specific body of work in the artist’s practice. It includes essays by Martha Kirszenbaum and Erlend Hammer, and gives a comprehensive and chronological account of the works from the series, showing their stylistic development as well as their exhibition history.
Between an artist’s book and a catalogue, this publication follows up on Armleder’s multidimensional exhibition at KANAL in 2020–21. Through archival pictures and in depth conversations, the book is designed to recreate the immersive experience of this collective experiment, and proposes a dive into something akin to a large self-portrait, conceived through the works of more than a hundred artists.
This artist’s book reflects Eva & Franco Mattes’ continued interest in the condition of displacement to be sensed in Fukushima. Borrowing the format of wrapping-paper catalogs, it contains twenty large pre-perforated sheets, each of which features a photographic texture—a seamlessly repeating motif captured by the camera amid the radioactive ruins of the contaminated towns and countryside.
The album brings together the music composed by Federico Chiari for various film and video works by Diego Marcon, including Monelle (2017), Ludwig (2018), The Parents’ Room (2021), and Dolle (2023). The album comes with a booklet containing lyrics and images that provide a deeper insight into this unique, profoundly intertwined collaboration between Chiari and Marcon.
Edited by Adriano Costa with Stefano Cernuschi
Texts by Fernanda Brenner, Milovan Farronato, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Adriano Costa
Designed by Tommaso Garner
2025, English, hardcover, 27 x 20 cm, 432 pages
ISBN 979-12-80579-78-2
In a practice now spanning three decades, Adriano Costa has embodied a playful yet critical approach to materiality, form, and social context. Working primarily with found and everyday objects, the artist transforms discarded materials—such as fabrics, furniture, metal, and plastic—into sculptural assemblages that question notions of value, taste, and authorship. His process often embraces imperfection, humor, and spontaneity, creating works that appear casual or improvised but carry deep social and cultural resonance. Costa’s art merges the aesthetics of resourcefulness and informality found in urban street life with a conceptual critique of global consumer culture.
Beauty and meaning can emerge from the overlooked or the broken: Costa’s installations and assemblages often evoke a sense of fragility and transience, emphasizing the impermanent and the handmade. Through this, Costa challenges the hierarchies of art production and the fetishization of the “finished” artwork. His use of found materials also reflects broader political and economic realities, particularly in Brazil, where scarcity and creativity often coexist. Ultimately, Adriano Costa’s work is a meditation on transformation—of objects, meanings, and systems of value—inviting viewers to reconsider what is discarded, both materially and socially.
This unprecedented catalogue collects over 300 pieces listed in alphabetical order—titles are a key part of Costa’s works—alongside new writing by Fernanda Brenner and Milovan Farronato, two critics who have long followed and championed the artist’s practice.
Photos: Nicola Gnesi