Uwe Wittwer

Uwe Wittwer (born 1954) is a Swiss artist. He lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. The media he uses include watercolor, oil painting, inkjet prints and video.

Life and Work

Uwe Wittwer is an autodidact. Born 1954 in Zurich where he went to school, he originally trained as a social worker (Bern, 1974 - 1977). In 1979 he rented his first studio. His early works were colourful abstract expressive oil paintings. The change towards figurative painting took place during the mid 80s. His first solo exhibition was at "Galerie Walcheturm", Zurich in 1983. In 1989 he spent time in London on a studio grant (Binz 39 Foundation, Zurich). In 1994 he was at the "Cité international des arts" in Paris for a year on a grant by the Canton Zurich. In the same year, he received the Swiss federal scholarship for the arts. 1989 solo exhibition at "Helmhaus Zurich", the first time his digitally edited photographs were shown. Since then, digitally manipulated images are part of his work. Kraft, Martin (1998). "Biografisches Lexikon der Schweizer Kunst", Zurich und Lausanne: Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung] . He works with images downloaded from the internet.

'Uwe Wittwer is a painter with a restricted, a ritualised vocabulary'Lienhard, Marie-Louise (1998). 'Uwe Wittwer',Zurich: Helmhaus Zurich. ISBN 3-906396-42-8 ] ; his motifs consist of four main subjects:landscapes, cities, still lifes and portraits, - later condensed into three main themes: idyll, referential work and the theme of violence Sarah Kent (2007): 'Public Pitures, Private Lives', in"Uwe Wittwer - Hail and Snow". Haunch of Venison, Zurich / London, ISBN 978-1-905620-17-3] Kunde, Harald (2005). 'Conjectures About What Is Possible', in "Uwe Wittwer - Geblendet/Dazzled, Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag. ISBN 3-936 636-56-7 ] .

The works of reference [Also termed "Appropriation Art". Vögele, Christoph (2005). "The Double Image - Uwe Wittwerand Appropriation Art", Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag, page 35.] concentrate primarily on interiors and still lifes of Dutch Masters, such as Pieter De Hooch or Willem Kalf. The theme of violence covers subjects like 'free time' of American soldiers in the Vietnam war [Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2005). "Sidelines" in 'Uwe Wittwer - Geblendet/Dazzled', Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag] [Stegmann, Markus (2005). "Uwe Wittwer - Monsun I-III". Édition Idéal, Zurich] , ruins of bombed out cities or scorched family homes.

Uwe Wittwer's work is underlined by 'the question of what a picture is' [Tobler, Konrad(2005). 'Uwe Wittwer - Geblendet/Dazzled', Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag, page 48. ISBN 3-936 636-56-7 ] and the question how memory affects images [Tobler, Konrad (2002). "Painting As Forward Recollection", 'Musterbuch II', Galerie Fabian & Claude Walter, Basel and Zurich] .

1998 - 2000 Uwe Wittwer was guest tutor at the [http://www.uni-wh.de/ University of Witten-Herdecke] , Germany.

In 2008 he was voted into "The 50 most important artists of Switzerland" List by [http://www.bilanz.ch/edition/artikel.asp?AssetID=5280 Bilanz Magazine]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions include 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); Haunch of Venison, Zurich (2007); Cohan and Leslie, New York (2008).

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); "Fade Away and Radiate",Cohan and Leslie Gallery, New York (2007).

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.uwewittwer.com/ Artist's website]
* [http://www.sikart.ch/page.php?pid=4&recnr=4004550 SIKART Swiss Institute for Art Research]
* [http://www.haunchofvenison.com/en/#page=zurich.artists.uwe_wittwer Uwe Wittwer at Haunch of Venison Gallery]
* [http://www.ludwigforum.de/Ausstellungen/archiv/2005/uwe_wittwer.html Uwe Wittwer at Ludwig Forum Aachen]