IKONMAN is a multidisciplinary art project initiated and created by master artist Dent-de-Lion du Midi, conceived from the outset as a total multimedia experience. Rather than existing in a single format, IKONMAN unfolds across multiple interconnected forms: a visual art project, a book, a gallery exhibition, a walking tour, and a music video—each medium extending and reinforcing the others.

The project was realized in Gstaad, Switzerland, where the IKONMAN signs originating from the book were installed throughout the pedestrian promenade and walking areas of the village. Encountered in motion, the signs transform an ordinary walk through the town into a sequential narrative experience, allowing meaning to emerge through repetition, placement, and time.

The installation was covered by the Anzeiger von Saanen, which described the walking route as “an engaging and unexpected cultural experience that invites residents and visitors alike to discover the village with new attentiveness”.

The signs were fabricated by Signal AG, a top swiss civil signmaker, deliberately adopting the visual authority and material presence of official public signage while remaining poetic, ambiguous, and open to interpretation.

In parallel, IKONMAN was presented at Galerie Wandelbar in Gstaad, where exquisitely framed works were exhibited and formally introduced during a public opening, providing a contemplative gallery-based counterpart to the outdoor installation.

Simultaneously, the IKONMAN book was published by Orell Füssli, one of Switzerland’s leading publishing houses. The project also includes a music video, in which the signs function as a visual score set to music, completing IKONMAN’s vision as a unified, time-based work embedded in lived experience.

Ultimately, IKONMAN, as iconic yet ironic contemporary art, does not only reflect the sign of the times—it invites us to pause, walk, and experience... the time of the signs.

Thomas Meier
Zürich