Malik Jeannet «PLEASE COME BACK LATER»
Malik Jeannet
«PLEASE COME BACK LATER»
curated by Ella Rumpf
Opening: 20 August 2026, 5 pm
Exhibition runs through 25 September 2026
Open by appointment
Under the title «PLEASE COME BACK LATER», Malik decided to share his reflections on a work in progress in which he exposes the inherent dialogue between time and making, while considering the nature of matter and the fragile ecosystem we are given by nature.
When I met Malik more than three years ago, he was just finishing one of his major projects in La Chaux-de-Fonds, building his studio and living space that was a ruin made out of four walls of stones.
Maybe it is a coincidence that he comes from the capital of clockmakers, but the ambition for precision when crafting and timing his work have something of a fine mechanic.
Using mostly wood for his recent projects, Malik wanted to explore deeper and present the necessary and inherent tasks required for the making of things. Instead of buying wood at a supplier and making a sculpture out of it, he went back to the basics; the forest and its standing living trees, asking himself and ourselves; What is the value of the matter we use? Where does it come from? How is it extracted, at which cost and at which time? The demand is speeding up, the production is speeding up, the consumption is speeding up. Traded by corruption at the mercy of human hands and big cooperations, wood is becoming a luxurious good.
Today, forests all over the world are burning. I was not sure how to react when Malik told me he wanted to cut down a tree for his exhibition. It created a discussion. We like discussions.
Malik contacted Ulysse, a friend and forest ranger that is taking care of more than 1,200 hectares of forest in the Canton of Neuchâtel. Ulysse showed us his forests and the trees marked by a pink dot, that were supposed to be cut for health reasons, or to give space and light to the younger trees below.
We chose this ash tree and came back a couple of days later, to see Ulysse cutting it down in front of our eyes. The trunk was then lifted by a tractor and transported on Ulysse’s trailer to the oldest sawmill of La Chaux-de-Fonds, where it was later cut into planks with much care by Bernard, the owner of the sawmill.
Malik knew that it takes one centimeter per year to dry the wooden planks from a freshly cut tree. He now has 5 years to see the planks dry, before he will eventually make something out of it.
Making things takes time, but I’m wondering: is this current heat speeding up the drying time, too? How much time is left?
Malik told me recently : “If the job of an artist is to think, and to make. What’s between thinking and making? Are we forgetting a part? Is there something alive between making plans and building things up?”.
I’d add that the resistance of production immediacy, to which I believe there is no other way than to lean into, must be radical if we want to keep this world alive.
We both thank you for visiting, we warmly thank Pierre for the invitation, and we kindly ask you to Please Come Back Later.
— Ella Rumpf
Malik Jeannet is soon opening a duo show with Ali Cherri at Galerie C - Paris. At the end of the year, he will attend a two months residency in Beijing, invited by Kunsthalle Basel and in collaboration with the Swiss embassy and MACA Art Center.
HÖSCHELLER ROOM
c/o enSoie
Strehlgasse 26
via Lindentreppe
8001 Zürich
The opening event is organized in cooperation with @kiosk.cafe.bar
Photos: Malik Jeannet