Born in Prague in 1956. Lives in Baden and Zurich since 1968.
Roman Buxbaum spent his childhood in Prague and Kyjov, a small town in the Moravian region in the former Czechoslovakia. At the age of 12, his family emigrated from the communist regime to Switzerland and settled in Zurich. His professional life has since the beginning connected to two fields: art and medicine.
Buxbaum, who was interested in art for most of his life, first went on to study medicine in Zurich and earned his doctorate in 1982 and later got the specialisation in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in 1991. In 1996, he founded Psychcentral, a psychiatric-psychotherapeutic outpatient clinic in Zurich. more about Psychcentral: www.psychcentral.ch
In the meantime, he went to study art and art therapy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (1984-1987). Since 1983, he has worked as an artist, held exhibitions in galleries and museums and created performances in art spaces and theaters.
The intersection of his two professional fields projected his interest in Outsider Art or Art Brut that he has systematically worked with since 1984 in the form of projects, exhibitions and books. His life story is closely linked to the artist Miroslav Tichý who was his neighbor from his hometown Kyjov. Since 1981, Roman Buxbaum has been promoting his work in the international art scene, collecting his art and organising his first exhibitions and publications.
He started a foundation „tichyocean“ in 2003 to support his friend Miroslav after his mother’s death and to save and collect his work. In 1992 Tichý and Buxbaum started swapping Tichýs photographs with other artists. This practice later developed into a project “Artist For Tichý – Tichý For Artists” which forms a base for Buxbaum’s collection of contemporary international art. The collection is planned to be housed in a museum / deposit (Schaulager) „to depo“ near Prague in 2028. Since the beginning of his role as curator and foundation founder in 2003, he has withdrawn from the public as an artist. However, he continues to work daily in his studios in Baden and Zurich. More about tichyocean: www.tichyocean.com
1956
Born in Prague
1968
Emigration with parents to Switzerland, primary and secondary school in Baden (Matura 1976)
1976—1982
Medical school at the University in Zurich, doctorate
1984—1987
Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, art and art therapy
1984—1991
Further training as a specialist for psychiatry and psychotherapy
in the 70ties
Starts to draw and paint
80ties
Makes objects, installations and performances
Galeries
Bob von Orsouw Zürich, Mosel-Tschechow München, MXM Prag, M2 Lausanne, Galerie Staffelbach Lenzburg, Athenea Barcelona
Solo shows
Galerie der Hauptstadt Prag (GHMP) 1991, Galerie U Řečických, 1991, Centre Pasquart Kunsthaus Biel 1992, Kunsthalle Wil 1992,
(Institutions)
Kunstraum Aarau 1992, Espace d'Art Contemporain Lausanne 1992, Rudolfinum Prag 1999, Kunstraum Aarau 2003
since 1992
Grant from the Board of Trustees of the Canton of Aargau. Purchases of works by private and public collections (Lenbachhaus Munich, cantonal collection of the canton of Bern, Centre Pasquart Biel, etc.)
1997—2000
Theater projects: audience-interactive theater performances: Theaterspektakel Zürich, Gessnerallee Zürich, Wiener Festwochen, u.a.
since 1992
Psychiatric work in own practice, founding and managing a group practice in Zurich, later the Psychcentral outpatient clinic.
since 1984
works in the Art Brut area, "talent scout, discoverer and rescuer of lost treasures": exhibition work, texts and publications
1985
"Artists from Königsfelden" project in the psychiatric clinic of the canton of Aargau in Switzerland
1990
Von einer Wellt zu'r Anderen ("From one world to another"), exhibition and book project with DuMont in Cologne, art by outsiders in dialogue with contemporary art.
since 2003
Miroslav Tichý: publication of the work of his neighbor and friend Miroslav Tichý. Founding of the "tichyocean" foundation. Since then hundreds of exhibitions and publications, important retrospectives (Kunsthaus Zürich, Centre Pompidou, ICP New York, MMK Frankfurt, among others), over ten monographs, documentaries, plays and ITunes apps honor the previously completely unknown Miroslav Tichý. The tichyocean Foundation owns most of Miroslav Tichý's body of work and archive.
since 2004
The collection and exchange project "Artists for Tichý - Tichý for Artists": Inspired by Miroslav Tichý, Buxbaum exchanges his works with artists all over the world. Without any money, the largest and most important collection of international contemporary art in the Czech Republic is created: over 2000 works by more than 120 artists
2021—2028
tichyocean Foundation purchases and reconstructs a factory building near Prague. The three existing collections (Miroslav Tichý, Contemporary international and Art Brut) are to be placed in a "Schaulager" project.