Landon Metz Brings Sacred Ritual and Chance to von Bartha Basel

A five-part, eight-meter canvas anchors "Landon Metz," the New York painter's eponymous solo exhibition at von Bartha in Basel, Switzerland, running through January 8, 2027. The show gathers new semi-abstract works produced through one of the more unusual studio routines in contemporary American painting.

Metz's practice splits in two: only half of it happens in the studio itself. The other half happens on the way there. Every morning he drops his son at school, buys a coffee, and walks from Brooklyn Heights over the Brooklyn Bridge to Canal Street — a route of just under an hour, taken regardless of weather.

"These walks are something I really love and do every day, regardless of the weather," Metz told Artnet Gallery Network. "Seeing the city from up high on the bridge and feeling closer to the sea and sky is a rare moment with nature in the city. It makes me feel closer to God, whatever that means."

What happens inside the studio?

His workspace sits on the sixth floor above Canal Street, quiet by default. He begins by looping music through a loop station, then warms up with drawing and color mixing. The painting itself follows stricter rules.

"Painting is a sort of sacred ritual in my studio," Metz said. "I prefer to sit and just breathe for a while before beginning to paint on the floor, in silence, on all fours."

His list of non-negotiables is concrete: natural light, purified water, pigment, raw canvas, stretcher bars, foam brushes, an eraser oil paintbrush, colored pencils, staples, a stapler, a hammer, and a pressure mister. He paints barefoot, in shorts and a T-shirt, with incense burning. He despises artificial light and uses it only in winter, when the sun sets midday — even then, he mixes colors only in morning light.

Lunch never varies: chicken, potatoes, and salad at a wooden table. Music plays all day, but he always paints in silence. Sweeping the floors, he says, is a genuine pleasure.

How much is left to chance?

Plenty — and this is the tension inside his disciplined routine. The canvas is stained, and the stain responds to humidity, the room, debris, and airflow. Gravity does decisive work. "I make my decisions with a great deal of care and lay down my forms very deliberately," Metz said, "but once the image is cast, so to speak, much of what happens thereafter is beyond my control."

Pigment moves through pools and accumulates as it settles and dries. "Often, the paintings fail at this stage," he admitted. "My studio is like a living state, and the paintings that emerge from it are a surprise even to me."

His figurative work draws on a strikingly small pool: exactly two sitters, with occasional self-portraits. "A very small movement or gesture can become a very important painting," he said.

What does this change for the work?

Metz also writes poetry — mostly on his walks — and records music daily in the studio, calling all three practices "part of the same inquiry." As for what follows Basel, he offers no named projects: "I'm following where the work leads, and it's amazing to watch what happens when you trust it." The eight-meter commission suggests collectors will get to see where that trust leads sooner rather than later.