Bettina Eichin
Bettina Eichin (born January 16, 1942 in Bern ) is a Swiss sculptor.
Life
Bettina Eichin attended the Bern School of Applied Arts from 1960 to 1964. In 1964 she completed her training as the first female stonemason in Switzerland, and three years later she completed her training as a stone sculptor .
In 1964 the first independent works were created on Patmos , figures made of lava rock. In 1965 she had her first solo exhibition in Bern. During the years 1965 to 1966 she worked in the Münsterbauhütte Bern ( Berner Münster ) with the renovation of the “clever and foolish virgins” on the main portal of the minster. She took part in the struggle for equal wages for women and men as the first female member of the Swiss construction and woodworkers' association.
In 1966 she restored ancient sculptures during excavations and in museums on Samos . In 1967 she married the Austrian archaeologist Gerhard Hiesel , she carried out restoration work during the excavation in Kabirion near Thebes. From 1967 to 1977 he made his own works from Greek marble, Ticinese crystal marble and Spanish limestone in Hamburg, Athens, Freiburg and Wildtal, restoration work during excavations in Tiryns . In 1969 their son Florian was born.
From 1972 to 1980 Eichin pursued a cultural and political activity in Freiburg i. Br. For the Federal Association of Visual Artists and for the Art Union in the DGB . She was chairwoman of South Baden, state chairwoman of Baden-Württemberg and a member of the federal executive committee for the participation of artists on all political levels and for the establishment of studios and artist houses in self-administration.
In 1978 she won first prizes in the “ Mittlere Rheinbrücke Basel” and “Pedestrian Zone Freiburg im Breisgau” competitions. Bettina Eichin has been working mainly in Basel since 1979.
Act
Eichin began in 1960 with organically abstracted figural works in stone. Her later stone sculptures break away from figurative abstraction and tend towards an almost ironically multiplied symbolism. In 1978 she turned to art in public spaces, the means of expression of poetic realism and the material bronze . The monumental bronze figures, still lifes and ensembles for public spaces contain committed messages, which explains why the clients often find it difficult to place their works.
Your drafts are preceded by an intensive intellectual examination of the topic and location of your choice. Artistically located between realism and object art, the works have the character of a monument thanks to the effective use of symbols and texts. Iconographically familiar is alienated through the combination with symbols. Bettina Eichin uses a surreal design principle , also in the still lifes and objects, despite the ostensible realism. The modeling of your work for direct bronze casting ( lost wax casting ) gives the unique pieces an unmistakable signature.
Her works in public space are warning signs , recalling unfulfilled and damaged ideals. The focus of the work was women, still lifes, texts, public purchases, exhibitions at home and abroad.
In the 1980s she received an order from the Sandoz company to produce a sculpture for the 100th anniversary of its founding, which was then to be donated to the city of Basel. During the work there was an accident on the Schweizerhalle industrial site and the following environmental disaster. Eichin decided to change her concept and produced the second part of the work market tables with a reference to the disaster. As a result, the order was withdrawn from her and the work could only be accommodated temporarily until it found its final location in 2010 in the small cloister of Basel Minster .
Works
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- 1978: "The nine muses" - foyer of Kollegiengebäude III of the University of Freiburg
- 1979: Execution of “Helvetia on the journey”, Basel
- 1982: "Sleeping Muse", large still life in bronze
- 1984: Commission from the city of Freiburg for "Nine Muses"
- 1986: Market tables , still life, cloister of Basel Minster
- 1990: Verena fountain in the Kurpark Zurzach
- 1994: Small fountain against the toll free road in Riehen
- 1995: Fountain for Matthias von Neuenburg, Neuenburg am Rhein
- 1997: «Mnemosyne» common grave at Blözen cemetery in Pratteln
- 1997–2007: Commission and work on the human rights monument in Basel
- 2000: “Human Rights 1776, 1789, 1791”, 2000–2005 in the Galérie des Alpes , Bundeshaus , Bern; Today in a federal art warehouse.
- 2001: Muse II (impression) Schosshaldenfriedhof , in memory of the parents. Gift to the city of Bern.
- 2002: Memory of Peter Ochs , Predigerkirche Basel
Quote
“There are hardly any sculptural commissions for art in public spaces anymore. Sculpture as I do it is rarely in demand, is devalued as "furniture" and dismissed as superfluous. There are hardly any large commissions that keep an artist busy for a long time. What is needed are concepts with short-term interventions in public space that come and immediately disappear without leaving any traces. The architects are the sculptors today. With their large objects they place the sculptures in the public space and bind the financial masses. Squares, parks and fountains are no longer designed with artists today. Today they are designed by the architects and designers themselves. What I do with image, shape, content and statement would disturb the pure design. "
literature
- Gerhard Hiesel (text), Urs Breitenstein (editor): Bettina Eichin. Schwabe Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-7965-2304-5 . ( Review )
Web links
- Brigitte Meles: Eichin, Bettina. In: Sikart
- Christian Düblin: Monthly interview December: Bettina Eichin 2010. Platform Bettina Eichin about her life, her understanding of art and her sculptures. Long interview about some of her works on xecutives.net from November 26th 2010
Individual evidence
- ^ Biographical facts about Bettina Eichin. In: Sikart , Lexicon on Art in Switzerland .
- ↑ a b See Christian Düblin's detailed conversation with Bettina Eichin in: Monthly Interview December: Bettina Eichin 2010, Xecutives.net platform (under web links).
- ^ Philipp Probst: The largest art happening in Switzerland. In: Infosperber , October 21, 2011
- ↑ For some of her works see interview with Christian Düblin 2010.
- ^ Stefan Howald: Human rights in the interim storage facility. In: woz.ch. Cooperative Infolink WOZ Die Wochenzeitung , January 17, 2017, accessed on March 2, 2020 : "In the Bundeshaus superfluous"
- ↑ Human rights in the Federal Palace 1776, 1789, 1791. In: Menschenrechtsdenkmal.ch. Retrieved on March 2, 2020 : “... the sculpture Human Rights in the Bundeshaus 1776,1789,1791, it was in the Galerie des Alpes in the Bundeshaus from 2000 to 2005. Then it fell victim to a verdict of the Federal Art Commission and was outsourced. "
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eichin, Bettina |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 16, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bern |