Günther Uecker
Günther Uecker was born in Wendorf, Germany in 1930 and is a German painter and object artist with an international reputation. He is best known for his relief-like nail art.
As early as 1957, Uecker created his nail works on white canvases, which were to become characteristic of his art from then on. He arranged the nails in symmetrical formations boards. Through the arrangement of the nails and the alternation of light and shadow, the nail reliefs achieve a dynamic effect. The white background gives the nails a dematerialising effect.
From 1976 to 1995 Uecker taught as a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1999 he designed the prayer room for the rebuilt Reichstag building in Berlin. Important awards and exhibitions in major museums and collections all over the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, pay tribute to his work. In 2015, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen hosted a major exhibition dedicated to the co-founder of the legendary artist group ZERO, focusing on the various facets of Uecker's extensive oeuvre.
List of selected prizes and awards:
- first prize of the 4th San Marino Biennale for ZERO and Group N (1963)
- prize of the Young Biennale in Paris (1964)
- sponsorship prize of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (1964)
- critics' prize of the São Paulo Biennale (1971)
- Kaiserring of the city of Goslar (1983)
- Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Cross of Merit 1. Class (1985)
- The Pour le Mérite (2000)
- State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia (2015)
His oeuvre includes object art, painting, installations, stage designs and films.
