Anne-Sophie

Anne-Sophie is a chrome steel statue by Swiss artist Alex Hanimann in Zurich West. The figure rises more than five metres in front of a hotel.

Its polished surface reflects people, weather, daylight, and the surrounding city. Hanimann based the sculpture on a real music student.

The figure connects a specific portrait with ideas about youth in her generation and Zurich West. Zurich West supplies an urban setting for this public artwork.

The sculpture emerged from Art and the City, a festival that brought contemporary works into Zurich’s public spaces. Hanimann created Anne-Sophie after another figure, Vanessa, left Steinfelsplatz.

That earlier statue served as a festival mascot before returning to its owner. Anne-Sophie then became a permanent figure outside the hotel in the quarter.

Chrome steel gives the work a reflective, modern appearance that changes with its surroundings. Alex Hanimann works across drawing, painting, graphic prints, and object art.

His role as a professor of visual communication links this sculpture with questions about images and public space. The statue places contemporary art within Zurich’s everyday landscape.

Its size and reflective material make Anne-Sophie visible from the surrounding streets of Zurich West.