PAX
series
DONA NOBIS
PACEM
The paintings presented on this page contain messages encrypted using mathematical and graphic methods developed by the artist under the name CODE BACH®.
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
FOR THE
PAX PAINTINGS
Detail of the centre
of the paintings
in the PAX series
ARTIST’S
STATEMENT
“Like many Europeans, I was deeply affected by the entry of the Russian army into Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, even from my peaceful region of Switzerland, thousands of kilometres away.
I quickly realised that the geopolitical situation was complex, rooted in a long and painful history, with old disputes and deeply entrenched resentments. To fully grasp its significance, one would probably have to go back at least to the end of the Second World War.
But beyond the geopolitical issues, it was above all the people themselves who occupied my thoughts: those under bombardment, living in fear, enduring violence and loss every single day. I imagined their wheat fields, suddenly covered with metal and blood. Images came back to me, notably those of the First World War memorial sites I had visited at the Chemin des Dames and Verdun.
The question arose: is all this about to start again? Has it already begun?
I also thought of those tragic moments, just before the Second World War, when international diplomacy seemed powerless to stop the infernal machine of hatred dragging Europe, and soon the entire world, towards the abyss.
DONA NOBIS PACEM.
1 September 1939
1 September 2025”
the twelve paintings
of the pax series
Acrylic on canvas.
A small square canvas glued onto the main canvas.
Glue, wheat grains and metal waste.
2025
DIMENSIONS OF THE
PAX PAINTINGS
No, 61 - 64
Painting No. 61: 70 x 100 cm
Painting No. 62: 80 x 110 cm
Painting No. 63: 100 x 160 cm
Painting No. 64: 80 x 80 cm
DIMENSIONS OF THE
PAX PAINTINGS
No. 65 - 68
Painting No. 65: 100 x 70 cm
Painting No. 66: 100 x 70 cm
Painting No. 67: 80 x 80 cm
Painting No. 68: 80 x 80 cm
DIMENSIONS OF THE
PAX PAINTINGS
No. 69 - 72
Painting No 69: 80 x 80 cm
Painting No 70: 150 x 100 cm
Painting No 71: 90 x 130 cm
Painting No 72: 110 x 80 cm
ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
IN Each of THE
PAX PAINTINGS
The surfaces of the PAX paintings may evoke bullet impacts, scars, knife cuts, or even traces of bayonets from past wars.
These marks also represent messages encrypted using CODE BACH®, expressed visually through holes, slits of varying lengths, together with variations in colour.
Each of the twelve paintings contains encrypted messages. One of them is the Latin phrase:
DONA NOBIS PACEM.
ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
SPANNING ALL TWELVE
PAX PAINTINGS
In addition, other encrypted messages run across all twelve paintings, from No. 1 to No. 12, continuing from one canvas to the next.
One of these messages draws on Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy, set to music by Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony. Its celebrated melody now serves as the European anthem.
ALLE MENSCHEN WERDEN BRÜDER …
