As a teenager, Guido Bernasconi was already keenly observing and passionately cutting out photographs from the American weekly magazine LIFE, which his mother stored in the attic of their family home. Sitting on the wooden floor, he explored a tumultuous world through the lens of the great photojournalists of the 1960s. Though not yet fluent in English, he was mesmerized by images depicting Martin Luther King’s speeches, the assassination of J.F. Kennedy, students sittings against the Vietnam War, humanity’s first steps on the moon, and Ali’s fights against Frazier. Equally formative were readings about the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust, as well as the plight of Warsaw Ghetto survivors, which his great-aunt encouraged him to explore.

 In 1974, after obtaining Swiss citizenship, Bernasconi, who had studied piano and saxophone for several years, graduated with honors from the scientific high school in Val-de-Travers, a region renowned for its forests. He pursued studies in forest engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, during which he discovered French New Wave cinema, Japanese Butoh theater, and Maurice Béjart's dance troupe. These influences spurred his autodidactic exploration of art through early performances.

In 1980, the city of Zurich was in turmoil with numerous youth protests clashing with law enforcement. He witnessed the cultural projects emerging within the autonomous movement of  the Rote Fabrik. Two years later, he traveled through East Germany by train to visit the legendary Zeitgeist exhibition in West Berlin, featuring artists such as Baselitz, Beuys, Kiefer, and Warhol.

After earning his degree at ETH Zurich, Bernasconi took a year-long sabbatical to travel in Africa. There, he frequently visited, later documenting, the Samburu and Turkana tribes in northern Kenya. These travels inspired a collection of poems illustrated with photographs captured on a Rollei 35S camera.

 He began his professional career at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research while pursuing his art through installations and video work. In 1985, he was employed as a forest engineer in the canton of Neuchâtel, advocating for the valorization of native wood. Between 1995 and 1996, he advanced his expertise in systems science at the University of Neuchâtel and deepened his knowledge of philosophy and human relations.

As president of the Neuchâtel Society of Foresters for 12 years, Bernasconi published scientific articles and laid the groundwork for systemic forestry, a qualitative leap in ecosystem management.

 In 2003, he pursued vocal studies at the Neuchâtel Conservatory. A member of the Collegiate Ensemble of Neuchâtel until 2025, he performed major works at prestigious venues, including Lucerne’s KKL, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, and Lausanne Cathedral.

Since 2015, Bernasconi has focused exclusively on contemporary art. From 1987 to the present, he has participated in over 40 exhibitions. Highlights include notable debuts at PACA Gallery (New York) and Galerie Européenne (Boston). In Switzerland, Jacqueline Rivolta’s gallery in Lausanne launched his career alongside François Burland and Sylvie Fleury. He has since exhibited at venues such as the La Chaux-de-Fonds Museum of Fine Arts Biennial, Villa Turque-Le Corbusier (curated by Janine Perret-Sgualdo), and the 13th Triennial of Original Prints in Granges. His work has been showcased in Basel, Bern, and Geneva, as well as in Italy and Germany. Bernasconi’s art has also featured in politically engaged group exhibitions such as Frauen in Action (Pasquart Art Center), Enter the Electronic River (Renshaw Gallery), Visual Poetry (Külungsborn Hall), and Groupe Sida (Neuchâtel Peristyle). In 1991, he represented Neuchâtel artists at the Influences exhibition in the Locle Museum of Fine Arts. For Switzerland’s 700th anniversary, he designed the Astrodrome in the garden of St. Gallen’s library. In 1994, La merveilleuse multiplication des images, with text by Bernard Fibicher, was published by Glasnost.

 More recently, his work has been featured in major exhibitions and documented in Kunstbulletin by art historian Katharina Holderegger. The article, “Guido Bernasconi: was haben wir nur eingerichtet?" - "What Have We Set in Motion?” (Artlog.net, 2023), bridges his 1980s creations with contemporary projects.

 Guided by Marshall McLuhan’s principle, Bernasconi actively engages younger audiences. During his exhibitions, he welcomes school groups to discuss his work and explore the environmental and societal impacts of digitization and climate change.