Massimiliano Rossetto (b. 1993) is a Swiss–Italian artist.
He lives and works in Zurich.

Rossetto’s artistic practice investigates how landscapes, narratives, and bodies pulse, seep, and intertwine, working through a queer ecological perspective. Across photography, sculpture, and multisensory installation, he engages remote and marginal sites—valleys, transitional terrains, and slowly transforming environments—where desire flows, memory lingers, and ecological processes unfold. His practice responds to the urgency of rethinking attention, care, and relationality in a moment defined by ecological and social precarity. Rooted in ancestral origins and personal narrative, he deconstructs and reconstructs images and materials, tracing the strata where matter, bodies, and places continuously shape and transform one another.

Download the portfolio here: PDF
For updates on upcoming shows, subscribe to my newsletter
For information on available works and pricing, please contact info@massimilianorossetto.com


Upcoming

01.11–30.11.2026

Residency, Fundaziun Nairs (Scuol, Switzerland)

12.03–20.06.2027

Solo exhibition, SAC-Kunstpreis 2026 – Kunstmuseum Thun, curated by Chiara Ottavi (Thun, Switzerland)

2027

Group exhibition – MAN, Museo d'Arte della Provincia di Nuoro (Nuoro, Italy)


Solo and duo exhibitions

2026

Soft Linings, duo exhibition with Jess Holdengarde – Casa Azul, curated by Greg Tiani (Gordola, Switzerland)
We left skin in the cracks – Kulturfolger, curated by Sibilla Panzeri (Zurich, Switzerland)

2025

FEROCE – standard/deluxe (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Tra le rocce – Amiamo Caffè (Zurich, Switzerland)

2024

È Fuoco Nell'Iridescenza, duo exhibition with Viola Poli – Spazio Fervida (Lugano, Switzerland)
Artificio – Micromacro, Atelier Viandanti (Lugano, Switzerland)


Selected group exhibitions

2026

+41 x cinque – Offspace +41 (Morbio Inferiore, Switzerland)
Mobile Encounters, AK JOL – Gallery House Zürich (Zurich, Switzerland)
OZEANE FLIESSEN AUFWÄRTS – Hotel Tiger, 6 ½, EWZ Unterwerk Selnau (Zurich, Switzerland)
NewKammer II – Atelier Righini-Fries Foundation (Zurich, Switzerland)
Tutto o Niente – Offspace Refusés (Lugano, Switzerland)
Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom – Offspace Refusés (London, UK)
Condo Satellite – Harlesden High Street, hosted by Offspace Refusés (London, UK)

2025

Private Party – Anggrek Agency (Zurich, Switzerland)
PUGLIODROME – Kulturfolger (Zurich, Switzerland)
Oltre la pietra – Matazz Offspace, Castel Grande, Sala dell'Arsenale (Bellinzona, Switzerland)
The Grand Tiger Hotel – Offspace Hotel Tiger (Zurich, Switzerland)

2024

Matazz Offspace – Unternehmen Mitte (Basel, Switzerland)
Space Invasion III – Fabienne Levy Gallery (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Making space, finding forms (MFA diploma exhibition) – Toni Areal, ZHdK (Zurich, Switzerland)

2023

La Regionale (ACXSI) – Villa Ciani (Lugano, Switzerland)
Of Each Absence – Klimarunde, ETH, curated by Judith Welter (Zurich, Switzerland)
GIFT – Toni Areal (Zurich, Switzerland)
Restless in the 1960s – Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo, Japan)
BreggiArte – Associazione Percorsi Culturali (Bruzella, Switzerland)
Playing with the trouble – [SIC] Space for International Cooperation (Athens, Greece)
2nd Quanzhou International Image Biennial – Huaguang Photography Art Museum (Quanzhou, China)
Playing with the trouble – Shared Campus Summer School (Aspropyrgos, Greece)
10th edition, La nuit de la photo – Musée des Beaux-Arts (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland)
OFF GRID – Material, curated by Elisa Pezza (Zurich, Switzerland)
Chapter II: shapes of water – Oncurating project space (Zurich, Switzerland)

2022

Winter Auction Fine Arts – Fondation ZHdK (Zurich, Switzerland)
Rethinking Nature – Festival Center FOTO WIEN, European Month of Photography (Vienna, Austria)
Genesi creativa – m.a.x. museo, Spazio Officina (Chiasso, Switzerland)
.YOUNG – Kromya Art Gallery (Lugano, Switzerland)
Le stanze dell'arte – Palazzo Civico (Bellinzona, Switzerland)

2021

Wunderkammer – Atelier Viandanti, curated by Maria Ares and Francesco Maria Gamba (Lugano, Switzerland)
25th vfg Swiss Young Talent Award for Photography – IPFO Haus der Fotografie (Olten, Switzerland)
Rethinking Nature – Imago Lisboa, European Month of Photography (Lisbon, Portugal)
C'era una volta la Pangea – Offspace +41, curated by Nicolò Latini and Chiara Ottavi (La Saceba, Switzerland)
HOT MESS II – Neuezeit Ost, curated by Yolandé Gouws (Berlin, Germany)
Rethinking Nature – Mois européen de la photographie (Luxembourg)
photoSCHWEIZ – Halle 550, curated by Daniel Bollinger (Zurich, Switzerland)
24th vfg Swiss Young Talent Award for Photography – Kammgarn West (Schaffhausen, Switzerland)
S(P)LACES – Centrale Festival, curated by Laura Davì (Fano, Italy)

2020

HOT MESS – Prince Charles, curated by Yolandé Gouws (Berlin, Germany)
24th vfg Swiss Young Talent Award for Photography – Oslo 8 (Basel, Switzerland)
24th vfg Swiss Young Talent Award for Photography – Photobastei (Zurich, Switzerland)
Generation Z – Noorderlicht International Fotofestival, curated by Robert Jan Verhagen (Groningen, Netherlands)
SPC Photo Awards – Photobastei (Zurich, Switzerland)

2019

Environment Documenta – LoosenArt gallery (Rome, Italy)
Rala: Feast of the Peasant – RETA (Zurich, Switzerland)

2018

Les nouveaux sauvages – Le Faubourg (Lyon, France)
The inner forest – Verzasca Foto Festival (Sonogno, Switzerland)

2017

Vicini di casa – Spazio 1b (Lugano, Switzerland)

2016

Sê plural como universo! – LaRada, curated by Carolina Sanchez and Riccardo Lisi (Locarno, Switzerland)
Exhibition École BLOO – Loft 4-40 (Lyon, France)
Vita di lago – Brissago Islands (Locarno, Switzerland)
Low Cost – BLOO gallery (Lyon, France)

2015

Art Tonic – Port Tonic Art Center (St. Tropez, France)

2012

Identità – Ego gallery (Lugano, Switzerland)
Making Life – Castellinaria, International young film festival (Bellinzona, Switzerland)

2011

Self shots – Giu*BoxGallery (Naples, Italy)


Education

2022–2024

MA in Fine Arts – ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts (Zurich, Switzerland)

2014–2016

BA in Fine Arts and Contemporary Photography – BLOO (Lyon, France)


Public collections

2026

City of Zurich – Kunstsammlung Stadt Zürich (Zurich, Switzerland)

2025

Fondazione Lac o Le Mon (San Cesario di Lecce, Italy)

2024

City of Zurich – Kunstsammlung Stadt Zürich (Zurich, Switzerland)


Awards and nominations

2026

Winner, SAC-Kunstpreis 2026 – Swiss Alpine Club Art Prize, Kunstmuseum Thun (Thun, Switzerland)

2025

Nomination, Kunst am Bau project «Bain & Co» (Zurich, Switzerland)

2024

Special mention, Premio Fondazione Verzasca (Vogorno, Switzerland)
Finalist, KSW Kantonsspital Winterthur Kunstpreis (Winterthur, Switzerland)

2023

Finalist, H&B Real Estate AG Kunstpreis (Zurich, Switzerland)

2020

Winner, 24th vfg Swiss Young Talent Award for Photography (Zurich, Switzerland)

2016

3rd prize, Vita di lago – Verzasca Foto Festival (Brissago, Switzerland)


Residencies

2026

Fundaziun Nairs (Scuol, Switzerland)
Luoghi di Seconda Origine – MAN, Museo d'Arte della Provincia di Nuoro (Nuoro, Italy)

2025

Simposio di pittura – Fondazione Lac o Le Mon (San Cesario di Lecce, Italy)

2023

Shared Campus Summer School, Restless in the 1960s (Tokyo, Japan)
Shared Campus Summer School, Critical Ecologies (Athens, Greece)


Grants

2026

Kulturförderung Kanton Zürich / Fachstelle Kultur (Zurich, Switzerland)
Repubblica e Cantone Ticino / Fondo Swisslos (Lugano, Switzerland)

2025

Focus Photo – Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council

2024–2025

What's next_Compass – Z-Kubator, Zurich University of the Arts (Zurich, Switzerland)

2023–2024

Fondation Felix Leemann (Lugano, Switzerland)

2022–2023

Fondation Zangger Weber (Zurich, Switzerland)


Publications (selection)

2024

Review Magazine, Issue 1 (London, UK)
LOVE, with Anaïs Strübin, Arthur Heck, Élisa Féraud, Inês Henriques and Francisca Patrocínio – ZHdK Editions (Zurich, Switzerland)
FEROCE – Respiro Cosmico, self-published (Zurich, Switzerland)
Voci d'Artista – Orizzonti, Cooperazione, Issue 24 (Basel, Switzerland)
Mineralien und Gesteine, self-published (Zurich, Switzerland)
Naturalia, photo-letter (Berlin, Germany)

2023

A Hybrid Transmedia Storytelling – HGK Basel FHNW Editions (Basel, Switzerland)

2022

Fisheye Photo Review 2021.22 – Fisheye Éditions (Paris, France)

2020

ENTKUNSTUNG III (Berlin, Germany)
L'appel d'une forêt perdue – Fisheye Magazine (Paris, France)
PF – Fotografie Magazine, Issue 4 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)


Workshops and talks

2026

Workshop – Schule für Gestaltung Bern und Biel (Zurich, Switzerland)

2025

Workshop on funding – What's next_Compass, Z-Kubator (Zurich, Switzerland)
Incontri di Corippo – Fondazione Verzasca (Corippo, Switzerland)

2024

What's next_Compass – Z-Kubator (Zurich, Switzerland)

2023

Shared Campus Summer School, Restless in the 1960s (Tokyo, Japan)


Other projects

2024

LOVE Book – supported by the ZHdK MA Fine Arts Department

2018

Photobook RESET, “Self Publish, Be Happy” – EMOP Opening Days, hosted by C/O Berlin

2012

Reflexions Masterclass, founded by Giorgia Fiorio and Gabriel Bauret

Member of near. – Swiss association for contemporary photography
Co-founder of YET MAGAZINE