Life and Works
Messen-Jaschin studied at the Ecole Supérieur Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the Sorbonne. From 1962 to 1965 he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne. He worked for two years at the Center of Contemporary Engraving in Geneva before moving to Zurich. Influences at this time included Friederick Kuhn. From 1968 to 1970, he studied at the University of Högskolan for design & Konsthantwerk of Gothenburg, where he made kinetic objects out of textiles.
His first group exhibition was the Lausanne EXPO, in 1964 (Swiss fair), where he presented his kinetic sculptures of glass and acrylic resin. In 1967 he exhibited in Scandinavia. In 1967, he met Jesús-Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Julio Le Parc during an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum of Gothenburg. Influenced by these artists, he became interested in optical art.
In 1970, he created a kinetic sculpture for the American company Gould, at Heistetten, in Germany. In 1973 he had a solo exhibition at the Migros Galerie-Club in Laussane.
After spending a long period in New York, Youri returned to Switzerland and settled in Bern, where he lived for eleven years. During that time he held many exhibitions at the Kunsthalle and also in other museums in the area, such as the Kunsthaus of Zurich, Ecole Polytechnique, Federal of Zurich, and the Cabinet of Prints, of Geneva.
He lived in Venezuela for a few years. He was awarded grants from the Foundation Mendoza and Yonekura Industrial and designed stage sets at the Sala of Conciertos del Ateneo and Teatro Ana Julia Rojas del Ateneo in Caracas. He was invited to present his theater performance art in various venues: VI Festival Internacional de Teatro, Fundacion Eugenio Mendoza, Association Cultural Humboldt (Goethe Institute) and the Alliance Française.
In 1986 he participated in a group exhibition "Die Welt der Schaustellerei" in Lausanne. He has participated in the World Festival of Art on Paper, Kranj, Slovenia (2000) and the Aim for the Arts international juried exhibition in Vancouver (2002).
From 2004 to 2005, he stayed for several months in Sydney.
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