Uwe Wittwer
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Uwe Wittwer (* 1954) is a contemporary Swiss artist. He lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. His techniques include watercolor, oil painting, and inkjet prints. He also produces multi-media works with his collaborator Kevin Mueller.
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[edit] Work
Uwe Wittwer's work begins in the late 70s in abstract painting. The change towards figurative painting takes place during the early 80s, as Uwe Wittwer no longer sees a possibility of making a new statement in abstraction. He reduces the scope of his motifs to a few subjects: landscapes, cities, still lifes and portraits. During the course of time, his scope is condensed even further, into three main threads: idyll, referential work and the theme of violence.
Uwe Wittwer builds his idyll pictures from motifs like the burgeois family house, a park, the boat on the lake, embroidery. The works of reference concentrate primarily on interiors and still lifes of the Dutch Masters, such as Pieter De Hooch or Willem Kalf. The theme of violence covers a somewhat broader spectrum, often crossing over into the other themes: moments of "free time" of American soldiers in the Vietnam war, ruins of bombed out cities (e.g. Dresden, London, Frankfurt), scorched family homes, battle ships and flower still lifes with bullet holes.
Uwe Wittwer's work is underlined by a strong political stance and the permanent question, what really makes up a picture. The leftist movement of the 80s forms his beliefs. This is clearly visible in works from the late 80s and the early 90s – which for example have the Red Army Faction or the I.R.A. as subject. In the course of time, the political aspects of Uwe Wittwer's work become subtler; the question after what makes a picture becomes predominant.
Uwe Wittwer is an autodidact. His impressive painting skill first came to public attention with his large-scale watercolour paintings, which were exhibited at the Kunsthalle Bern in 1991. Since then, large-scale watercolours are perceived as one of the main pillars in his work.
Today, Uwe Wittwer's work is at a point, where the media (oil, watercolour, drawing, prints, video) is of lesser importance, because the signature of the artist's hand shines above all media.
[edit] Exhibitions (selection)
His solo exhibitions include the following museums and Art galleries: Kunsthalle Bern, CH (1991); Museum Schloss Morsbroich, Kunstverein Leverkusen, GER (1997); Helmhaus Zurich, CH (1998); University Art Gallery, Pittsburgh PA, USA (2000); Kunstmuseum Solothurn, CH (2005); Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, GER (2005).
His group exhibitions include «Tatort London», Galerie Schübbe, Düsseldorf, GER (1996); «Die Schärfe der Unschärfe», Kunstmuseum Solothurn (1998); «Swiss Contemporary Art», Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul (1998); «Schafft Land!», Stadtmuseum Siegburg, GER (2000); «L'Imagine ritrovata» Museo cantonale d'Arte, Lugano, CH (2002); «Big is beautiful» Musée d'art et d'histoire de la Ville de Neuchâtel, CH (2002); «Flower Myth - van Gogh to Jeff Koons», Fondation Beyeler, Basel, CH (2005); «Reprocessing Reality», P.S.1 MoMA, New York (2006).
[edit] Literature
- Authors: Christoph Vögele, Harald Kunde, Konrad Tobler, Adrian LeBlanc, Klaus Merz.
Geblendet / Dazzled. Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3936636567
- Authors: Markus Stegmann
Uwe Wittwer - Monsun I-III. Édition Idéal, Zurich 2005
