Curated by the Novartis Art Forum, the exhibition ‘You Are a Coral Reef’ brings together eighteen works spanning the full arc of Martin Oeggerli's career, on view at the Novartis Pavillon from June 16 to August 30, 2026.
The show invites visitors to explore the hidden landscapes of the human body. Starting with the alchemy of a kiss, to shared intimacy, it unveils the biology of attraction, with previously unpublished images of a spermatozoon and a fertilized egg cell. It then journeys through the ecosystem of the intestine, from the microbiome of a newborn child to the gut of an adult revealing a teeming wilderness of bacteria. Exploring the rugged landscapes of our skin, it zooms in on the microbial communities that transform odorless sweat into a distinctive scent. From there it moves through fat cells, muscle fibers and bones, blood and the architecture of the senses, before closing on the brain cells that make meaning of it all. Collectively, the images sit at the edge of what is known, offering a glimpse into a body as vast and interconnected as a coral reef. To reach these depths, Oeggerli works with a scanning electron microscope. Capturing structures at the nanoscale in extraordinary detail, he returns to the digital darkroom, adding color by hand, as faithfully to nature as possible, but with the freedom to depart where meaning demands.
About the artist
Martin Oeggerli (born 1974, Solothurn), PhD, is a Swiss molecular biologist who uses his microscope to probe the tiniest enclaves of nature, taking his sharp eye for beauty to the nanoscale. Styling himself as a Micronaut — explorer of invisible worlds — Oeggerli creates microscopic photographs using a combination of scanning electron microscopy and post-processing coloration. Oeggerli has a background in cancer research and received his PhD at the University of Basel, in the field of genetics and molecular biology. Over the past twenty years he has worked as a science photographer. His work has been featured in BBC, GEO, Nature, Science, Vogue, and most prominently, National Geographic. In 2022 Oeggerli received the prestigious Lennart Nilsson Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions within the realm of scientific photography. He is a member of ‚The Photo Society‘ and National Geographic’s ‚Photographer’s Advisory Board‘.