HappenArt

Günther Uecker
Painter / Sculptor
Location: Düsseldorf (Germany)

Günther Uecker (born March 13, 1930 in Wendorf, Germany) is a German artist who became known for his works in painting and sculpture. He is particularly renowned for having worked with nails which he fixes on panels or his sculptures. Part of his work is one with kinetic art.

The nail.

In his works, the nail becomes an “elementary particle”. Or “basic brick”. The nails are large enough and spaced enough apart that their individual presence is inescapable. But simultaneously, the work emerges from the organized set of nails. They are rigidly linked to each other by the substrate in which they are planted. The distances and the relative orientations between the nails are definitively fixed. In some cases, the general shape is a deliberately elementary geometry.

Overall movement.

The emergences it produces mirror the organization of the world in multiple areas. Its nail assemblies offer the vision of a whole movement. A bit like waves on the surface of water, or folds of expertly crafted fabric. H20 molecules, invisible, are discrete elements in unimaginable number, which form waves. Likewise, while the movements of the fabric can reveal the woven threads while the fibers at the heart of the threads remain invisible. These paintings are constructed from a discreet assembly of nails to form a structure that is perceived to be continuous, beyond these basic elements.