Günther Uecker Graphein
4 March 2021Günther Uecker (* 1930) is best known for his nail pictures. He either nails wood and canvases directly or creates printing blocks with nails, with the help of which he makes embossed prints on paper. The different alignment of the nails creates different light and shadow conditions, which gives the works their own dynamic. In the 1960s, Uecker also began to spike everyday objects with nails. The nails free the objects from their actual function and transform them from everyday objects into art. For example, Uecker nailed a piano, making it unusable as a musical instrument but at the same time a work of art.
In collaboration with the gallerist Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen and the typographer Hans-Peter Willberg, the artist designed the fascinating portfolio Graphein in 2002. In it he combines the embossing prints that are typical for him – made with the help of nail-studded printing blocks – with various early historical typographies from different regions of the world, such as Egypt, Nepal or China. The gallerost Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen assigned the embossed prints to the various early writings.
Chapters are formed from a title page, the font sample and the embossing, which illustrate fascinatingly different approaches to the creation of fonts and make them aesthetically tangible. In total, Graphein contains twelve chapters plus additional typographically appealing title, source, explanatory and imprint pages. Since the portfolio was created, it has been a magnet for national and international art and typography connoisseurs and has been presented at many important art fairs around the world.
Günther Uecker studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1955 to 1957. In 1958 he took part in the epoch-making ZERO 1 exhibition in Düsseldorf. He took part in the documenta in Kassel in 1964 and 1968 and in the 35th Venice Art Biennale in 1970. His work has been shown in the most prestigious international exhibition venues, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Guggenheim Museum New York, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin and in the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20 in Düsseldorf. From 1975 to 1995 Uecker was a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Today he lives and works in Düsseldorf.