Martin Disler (*1949 Seewen; †1996 Geneva, Switzerland) was a Swiss painter, sculptor, and writer whose intensely expressive practice is associated with the renewed interest in gestural painting that emerged in Europe during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Closely related to the artistic sensibilities of the Neue Wilde movement, his work is characterised by an immediate, physical engagement with materials and an exploration of fundamental human experiences.

Disler's often monumental paintings and works on paper unfold through vigorous brushwork, dynamic compositions, and an expressive use of colour. His imagery oscillates between abstraction and figuration, with fragmented bodies, gestural marks, and organic forms suggesting states of emotional and physical intensity. Themes of desire, vulnerability, violence, and mortality recur throughout his practice, reflecting a persistent tension between the affirmation of life and the awareness of death.

For Disler, painting was an existential act, inseparable from the physical movement of the body. This understanding increasingly extended into sculpture, particularly in his later work, when he developed powerful, often rough-hewn forms that translated the energy of his paintings into three-dimensional space. His sculptures establish an immediate relationship with their surroundings, emphasising corporeality, movement, and material presence.

Across painting, sculpture, printmaking, and writing, Disler developed a deeply personal artistic language that resisted formal restraint. His work remains distinguished by its emotional urgency and uncompromising exploration of the human condition.

Selected Collections: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Kunstmuseum Basel; Kunsthaus Zürich; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin.