Timo Paris was born in Basel on August the 12th, 1994.
After graduating from the Gymnasium Oberwil in 2013, he attended the preliminary course in design at the Basel School of Design. It was during this time that he first exhibited his works publicly, at Galerie Silbernagl in Milano (2015), at the SCOPE International Contemporary Art Show (2015), and at the ART FAIR at the Basel Art Center (2016), among other events.
Following this, Timo spent a year travelling in Australia and Asia. He became part of the international crew “Breakin’ Borders“, performing with them at street shows in London, Lisbon, Stuttgart, and Basel in the summers of 2016 and 2017. He developed his understanding of the influence of the environment on dance and vice versa through his experiences in “battles” (competitions), dance theatre, and performances at parties, concerts, on stage and on the street.
In 2016, after returning to Switzerland, he began studying for his Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts degree at the HGK FHNW. He also continued his self-taught activities in the dance style Breaking, focusing on battles. He notched up a number of successes, such as winning the 1vs1 Concrete-Battle at City vs. City Bern (2020). Timo was also one of the top 50 dancers at the Breaking World Championships in Nanjing China (2019), a semi-finalist at the BCOne Cypher Switzerland (Swiss Championships) in Basel (2017) and winner of the Battlesquare Genf Geneva(2016). He recently won the Espiritual Freestyle Battle vol. 3 in Lima / Peru (2023).
His art studies were not divided into media-specific classes, but were focused on creation, exchange and reflection. This orientation inspired Timo to expand his knowledge and skills in various media fields. As a result, he increasingly developed definite connections between his dance activities and the visual arts. During this time, his artworks were exhibited at events including the Raumfahrt V exhibition (2021) at the Museum Langmatt in Baden, Open Gallery at Galerie 143 in Lörrach (2020), Art des Haus at the Schlosspark in Andelfingen (2020), and Live, Love, Justice “Next Generation” at Kunsthaus Baselland (2020).
His cultural commitment is demonstrated by his work as an organizer of events such as La Résidence III – a residency for Swiss “B-boys” and “B-girls” in collaboration with the Break Social Club and the Sutra House in Riehen (2022). He assisted in setting up “The Movement” (2017 – 2021), an association and platform for movement, education and Hip-Hop culture. In 2014, he began working as a dance teacher and also as an interpreter with the MIR Compagnie under the leadership of Béatrice Goetz. This collaboration made him aware of further dance events formats for him beyond competition events. He has since developed his own performances, including a collaboration with Artstübli (2023) for Kunsttage Basel, and has created dance performances as dialogues with his drawing series for an exhibition by the contemporary art platform Proyecto Amil in Ardez (2023). He has also performed in the pieces Slantboard, Platforms, Huddle (2022, 2019) by the 60s performance icon Simone Forti at the Kunsthaus Baselland, as well as in the event series I Hear a New World – 14 Miaows of the Future, curated by Chus Martinez at the Museum Beyeler (2022). He developed three dance solos for the ECHOES concert by the music collective TOROS (2022) and conceived five site-specific performances for the ADB (Architektur Dialoge Basel) as part of the Architekturtage or Architecture Days (October 2021), was a dancer in the the movement dance show at the opening of the teachers’ convention for the city of Basel (2019) as well as the dance production Vas-Y with the MIR Compagnie (2017) and in the solo piece Continum by the CARTA BLANKA DANCE company, choreographed by Max Zacchrison (choreographer and dancer at Theater Basel, 2017).
Timo Paris makes a living by accepting art and design commissions and developing dance projects with his one-man firm Studio Timo Paris ©2019. His art commissions include the design for the von Rohr Armaturen AG company’s façade (2021, 2019), various trophies for dance events such as the Breakthrough Festival Zurich (2019), Raise the Art Battle Zurich (2020), and TM Arena Battle (2019), an animation video for SKUBA (Student Body of the University of Basel), and a documentary on the education project miniMIR by the MIR Compagnie (2022). He has also participated – both as an organizer and as a dancer – in the show-battle held for the Kunsthaus Baselland at the OsloNight event (2019, 2020).
In order to allow space for such an abundance of projects and for more intensive dance training, Timo extended the last year of training over two years and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the FHNW HGK Basel in September 2020. This was followed by two years of independently creating entrepreneurial, artistic, and dance projects. With the emerging local crew Das Flavour (©2019), he continued dance training even during the pandemic, with the focus shifting from battles to exchange, experimentation and creation. The crew has since launched a training support programme for talented local up-and-coming dancers, is creating shows and participating in battles.
In the summer of 2023, following these two years of independent activities, Timo began studying for his Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the Institute of Art, Gender and Nature at the HGK FHNW. He uses the free time and energy enabled by scholarships to develop and extend his hybrid art practice and to engage in exchanges with fellow students and with the local and national art scene. Recently, his artworks have been exhibited in contexts that include Foyer 42 Basel (2023), the solo exhibition SCRUPUS at “off-space Neuf Trois” Basel (2023), the solo exhibition Proof of Work in Der TANK at the Institute for Art, Gender and Nature at the FHNW HKG Basel (2023), at the group exhibition SCOUT at Schwarzpark Basel (2022), at the inauguration of the artworks purchased by the Office for Environment and Energy Basel (2022), at the “Cine POP up” at Cine ABC Bern (2022) and at the group exhibition Tripple Take at the Wilde Gallerie Basel (2022).
Visit artist website here.
