In this special lecture, artist Erwin Schwentner humorously explores the origins and interconnections of selected motifs found in his sculptures and creatures, offering further insights through conversation and discussion.
With his series of “Hefterln” (“little booklets”), now numbering seventeen, Schwentner seeks to comment on the so-called great themes of humanity. In doing so, he draws upon his own sculptural universe, which—emerging entirely from his imagination—represents, for him, the whole world. Since no other world exists beyond this one, his attempts at explanation necessarily remain incomplete. Schwentner compensates for this limitation by demonstrating that these themes cannot be addressed conclusively without the use of humor and sarcasm. There is always, so to speak, an absurd residue that remains.
A sculpturally shaped form of therapy for the viewer.
Through his sculpture, Schwentner explores and comments on the great themes of human existence. His distinctive artistic world—entirely a product of his own mind—serves as the framework through which he examines human behavior. Layer by layer, he reveals its complexities in a manner that is both humorous and critically reflective.
Schwentner was born in 1945 in Hitzendorf, near Graz. He is married, has three children, and worked as a judge before devoting himself to artistic practice from 1980 onward.
Since 1982, he has held and participated in numerous exhibitions both in Austria and internationally.