Their art is versatile, surprising and always brings the wow factor.

On Instagram, they describe themselves as “professionally unemployed”. Spend a little time with the artists or their work and you soon realise: they have created a universe of their own. One that cannot possibly depend on anyone else. Perhaps only on life, light and love.

They have been designing experiences together since 2008. Their large-scale installations, sculptures, abstract paintings, photographs and publications are often created in collaboration with other artists or the public.

We meet the two at Kunst Raum Riehen, where their exhibition “La Maison des Heures Perdues” runs until 8 November 2026.

Lost hours? Hard to imagine about two people who are constantly busy.

The neon installation extends over three rooms. Delicate glass droplets seem to float weightlessly in the space, bathed in the glow of warm red neon lights. For a moment, we lose all sense of up and down, of what is in front and behind. The boundaries of perception begin to blur. And we are suddenly faced with the question: what actually is reality?

Dead leaves lie on the floor. “This summer’s dry weather has really affected us. We had to somehow incorporate it into the theme,” explains Ado.

In the fourth exhibition room, we encounter countless cat figures made of clay. The series Büsi – A Not So Guilty Pleasure has been growing since 2015 and thrives on participation: the cats are modelled not only by Ado + Comenius, but primarily by friends and exhibition visitors.

That others literally collaborate on their work is key for Ado + Comenius. “Of course, we don’t always reveal what we’re planning from the start, but involving people is very important to us,” explains Comenius. “We always, in a way, rely on the planned coincidence. When you work with people you don’t know, you can plan as much as you want beforehand, but things will never turn out the way you intended. And I think that’s exactly what we’re playing with.”

Ado originally completed an apprenticeship as a framer and later worked as a graphic designer. He has long held a passion for painting. Comenius is a trained fashion photographer. The two met at an exhibition.

“I actually first met Comenius’s daughter, who was six years old at the time,” Ado recounts. She wanted him to build her a tower out of the boxes standing around in the foyer. When he later met her father, he recommended what he thought to be the best work of the exhibition: the one on the lowest floor. “Comenius just laughed and said: that’s mine.”

Since then, they have more or less been on the same artistic journey. What drives them most? “Freedom. To be able to do what we want,” says Comenius.

Comenius grew up in Riehen (BS) and spent many hours as a child in artist Niklaus Stoecklin’s workshop. Ado’s parents came to Switzerland from the former Yugoslavia before the war. In his youth, he was fascinated by the graffiti scene. “Street artists were my heroes,” he chuckles.

The two also share a passion for all things to do with food. They love good food, cooking and above all being together at the table.

“We are both family people who like to get together with our loved ones to have a good time while eating,” says Comenius. “It’s these genuine face-to-face moments that we want to nurture because they’re so valuable,” adds Ado.

Originally intended as a kind of self-therapy, the book became a success. To this day, orders come from all over the world. “Really crazy!”, says Ado.

Music also plays a part in their universe. For their project Music – A Conversation Through Song Titles, they sent sheets of paper with song titles to various artists and asked them, if possible, to respond with another song title.

Ado + Comenius often listen to Radio X while working. “There’s something inspiring about the genre-spanning madness that reigns there,” says Ado.

This openness also shapes their art. “Every medium has a different way of conveying ideas or feelings,” explains Comenius.

They are said to be like night and day in terms of personality. “However, we share a similar aesthetic,” says Comenius. Ado nods: “Yes, in certain areas we differ completely, and in others we function exactly the same.” Comenius adds: “Day and night belong together, after all.”

For two people with different temperaments to function together over so many years, it takes openness and communication. “In a way, it’s like in any friendship or relationship: the more you talk about it, the better it gets, right?”, says Comenius. ADO especially appreciates that they can be there for each other and support one other: “It’s important that we always remain open.”

Their limits seemingly shift regularly. “We always come back to the point where we think: we’ll never do that again. That’s shit. Not like that. And then we’ll make it 10 times more extreme next time.”

That is why they sometimes feel quite empty after larger exhibitions or art fairs. Whenever possible, they give themselves a few weeks to rest afterwards. During this time, for example, they work a bit more manually and allow themselves more breaks. “Personally, I find that being active does me a lot of good,” says Ado, who has also been wanting to take a mushroom-foraging course for years. “Maybe I’ll make it this year.”

Both appreciate being out on the road with the car. “Driving around the world and really taking it all in is incredibly inspiring, too,” says Comenius.

That this often happens in an old Mercedes is not really surprising: “somehow, we find the old models more beautiful than the newer cars. And with this old banger, you always have something to repair – it’s built to last.”

They are both also inspired by the Basel art scene. Ado recommends, among others, the galleries von Bartha, Müller and Stampa, the Kunsthalle, and the Kunstmuseum. “I’d recommend that everyone take a seat on the colourful benches in the courtyard of the Kunstmuseum.” He also likes to visit the Natural History Museum with his children.

Comenius prefers to clear his head in smaller bars, such as the Safari Bar. They also enjoy eating out at Peng, Concordia or Rhyschänzli.

Their advice to young, emerging artists: be bolder and experiment more. “Try more. Don’t stick too rigidly to rules”, is their recommendation. In the art world, there are many unspoken conventions that some people follow. Yet those who are breaking new ground could benefit from freeing themselves from them. Art is constantly changing – and those who experiment are rewarded for it. Maybe.

For Ado + Comenius, the real beauty lies in the process itself: in the fact that it always keeps going, that the search never ends, and that they can surprise themselves again with every new project.

Ado + Comenius – they just click. Or, as Ado puts it so aptly: “I am the Bolognese and Comenius the Lasagne.”

Admir (Ado) Jahic and Comenius Roethlisberger have been working together as conceptual, media and installation artists since 2008. Their large-scale installations, sculptures, abstract paintings, photographs and publications are often created in collaboration with other artists or the public.

Among other works, they first came to wider attention with Artists’ Recipes (2014), a cookbook featuring favourite recipes of internationally renowned artists. Their first neon work was created in 2016 from lines drawn by each at the same time.

For the exhibition La Maison des Heures Perdues at Kunst Raum Riehen, they have created more than 700 droplet-shaped light fixtures over the past few months. The exhibition unites two bodies of work that deal with transience and collective experience in different ways. Light, material and encounters with visitors come together to create a space where memories are not simply preserved, but continually created anew.

Exhibition: La Maison des Heures Perdues, Kunst Raum Riehen, until 8 November 2026