Advertising promises the singular through a standardized idiom. Marius Steiger takes this contradiction as the starting point for «Ultra Lights», his third solo exhibition at Blue Velvet, Zurich. Working in oil and acrylic on linen, he reproduces found advertisements, tracing how a small repertoire of images has been used across decades and industries to make products desirable, institutions trustworthy and ways of life enviable.

Much of the source material from his new series comes from magazines Steiger’s grandparents collected over seven decades: Du, Travel + Leisure, National Geographic and aviation publications, with issues dating back to 1947. First printed on glossy paper meant to settle an image in the subconscious before being thrown away, Steiger’s ads are carried over into oil on linen, a medium made to endure. Painted alongside articles and photographs, they record what readers were encouraged to want — and how consistently those desires were pictured.

Recent exhibitions by Marius Steiger (b. 1999, Bern) include Marginalia, his first institutional solo exhibition in Asia, at Jiayuanhai Art Museum, Shanghai (2026); a solo presentation with Blue Velvet at Art Basel Unlimited (2026); and Rare Aesthetics at Tara Downs, New York (2026). In 2025, he exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch in Miami, Perrotin in Paris, Lisson Gallery in Shanghai (in collaboration with ZIAN), and Kunstraum Riehen in Basel. In 2027, Steiger will present a solo booth with ZIAN at Art Basel Hong Kong.