The sculptor Paul Wiedmer is one of the most known artist of the latest generation of Swiss iron sculptors. The Tinguely Museum Basel dedicates him a large retro perspective.
Paul Wiedmer was born in 1947 in the Swiss town of Burgdorf. He became Bernhard Luginbühls assistant in 1967 and met Jean Tinguely in Paris the next year. His cooperation with Tinguely, Daniel Spoerri and Nikki de Saint Phalle for early stages of the building of the giant sculpture Cyclop in the woods by Milly la Foret is the result.
Since the early 1970's Wiedmer has been working as an independent artist. Fire and ice play an important part in his sculptures and became a sort of branding for his sculptures.
Wiedmer plays with this fascinating and at the same time intimidating element. He even creates sculptures which are inspired by architecture like bridges and iron temples.
Wiedmer created his first fire sculpture in 1974. They are his interpretation of his encounters with the actors of the ?Nouveau Réalisme?. From then on his work can be distingusihed by the momentum of movement, interaction with the spectator and the recycling of waste materials. During the years 1975 and 1976 he created the series Objects boudlés ? a collection of fragments, which he discovered with the help of metal detectors all over Switzerland. When he participated in the 1978 and 1981 edition of the group exhibition ?Hammer I and II?, created by Felix Handschin in Basel, he discovered the perfect spot for the development of new sculptures in the valley of La Serpera (Italy).
In 1991 he went to Beijing for several month, where he created a large fire sculpture for the Swiss embassy. The cultural influences have a deep impact on his later pieces, which can be deducted from his new passion for bamboo. Beside the public exhibition of his fire sculpture in the streets of the ?dieing city? of Civita di Bagnoregio in the 90's, you can also see his sculptures in the sculpture park ?Serpera? along pieces of other artists.
A book has been published alongside the exhibition with many pictures and texts by Roland Wetzel, Guido Magnaguagno, Marco Trulli, Ludwig Oechslin, Kornelia Imesch, Res Ingold, Andres Pardey. There is a German and an English version by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg. Festeinband 152 pages, ca. 100 Farbabb. ISBN 978-3-86828-092-0, CHF 39, EUR 28,00.
The exhibition runs from 16. September 2009 until 24. January 2010
Museum Tinguely Basel, Paul Sacher-Anlage 2, CH-4002 Basel
Further information: http://www.tinguely.ch
