The Ranch is pleased to announce a presentation of recent work by the German artist Julius von Bismarck at the Petit Palais during Art Basel Paris. This presentation, part of Art Basel's curated public program, is organized in collaboration with Sies + Höke. The presentation is free to the public and on view from Tuesday, October 21 through Sunday, October 26.

Von Bismarck’s works on view play with the appearance of risk to challenge fixed ideas of perception and control.The Elephant in the Room pairs a taxidermy giraffe with a replica of an equestrian statue of Otto von Bismarck, each collapsing and reassembling in asynchronous loops. Inspired by push puppets, the motorized sculptures question how monuments shape public memory, from the exploitation of nature to political myth making. Alongside, the series OOOSB compresses flora, fauna, and remnants of civilization into stratified panels, while the video Grenzen der Intelligenzen captures insects drawn to artificial light—an image of disoriented attraction amid ecological collapse.

About the Artist

Julius von Bismarck is a graduate of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and the Institute for Spatial Experiments, founded by Olafur Eliasson, with whom he studied during his Master’s program.

He has presented solo exhibitions at Berlinische Galerie; Bundeskunsthalle; Palais de Tokyo; Kunstpalais Erlangen; Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg; Artothek Kunstverein Göttingen; and Kunstverein Arnsberg, among others. Upcoming solo exhibitions in 2025 and 2026 are scheduled in Austria, Australia, and China.

Von Bismarck has participated in numerous international group exhibitions, including at the Palais de Tokyo and the 1st Antarctic Biennale at the Venice Biennale (2017). He received the Ars Electronica award in 2008 for his project Image Fulgurator and was the first artist-in- residence at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 2012. He lives and works in Berlin.