Pipilotti Rist was born in 1962 in Grabs, Switzerland. She lives and works in Zürich. The artist was called Lotti (her full name is Elisabeth Charlotte) and added Pipi to Lotti the day she started in 1982 at the Universität für angewandte Kunst in Vienna, where she studied graphic design and animation and began making Super-8 films.

Alongside her studies she created stage designs or ‘visuals’ for various bands. In 1988-94 she was a member of the band ‘Les Reines Prochaines’. Since the end of the 1980s Rist has had a wide-ranging international exhibition practice and stands as a significant figure and pioneer on the contemporary art scene with her many-faceted works.

Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented internationally at venues including Louisiana, Denmark (2019); MCS, Australia (2017); New Museum, United States (2016); Kunsthaus Zürich (2016); Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2015); Times Museum, Guangzhou, China (2013); Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2012); Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan (2011); the Hayward Gallery, London (2011); the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH (2011); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2009); the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2008); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2007); and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX (2006); among many others. Rist was awarded the Harper’s Bazaar Art China Prize (2013), the Zurich Festival Prize (2013), and the Joan Miró Prize (2009).