Günter Praschak (ceramist)

Günter Praschak (born November 30, 1940 in Vienna ; † November 12, 2015 in Perchtoldsdorf ) was an Austrian ceramist and university professor .

Live and act

Günter Praschak is considered an important representative of modern ceramics in Austria, who also influenced and produced many graduates (as a professor at the Art University Linz ).

After completing his basic artistic training (1958–1961) at the then Kunstgewerbeschule Vienna (now part of the University of Applied Arts Vienna ), Praschak followed the advice of his professor there, Robert Obsieger , to learn ceramics as a craft and completed an apprenticeship in the ceramics workshop -Dynasty of Hans and Franz Eska in Munich (1961-1962, journeyman's examination).

At the same time he took part in the Josef Hoffmann Seminar for Ceramics in Vienna under the direction of Kurt Ohnsorg (1962–1963), and then worked from 1964 to 1969 as a designer and ceramist at Knabstrup Keramiske Industri in Denmark , where he also worked (from 1967 together with Waltraud Praschak-Thalhammer ) ran his own studio in their factory in Copenhagen . Significant tile designs and reliefs as well as ceramic objects and series have been created here to this day.

The artist used it (and later in Linz) to develop design and glaze developments for everyday porcelain, as well as the execution of building ceramics (tiles) for various Austrian and Scandinavian companies (including Gmundner Keramik , Knabstrup Keramiske Industri, Denmark ). He also designed archaeological models (temples) and reconstructions (antique kilns), especially in connection with the Austrian excavations in Aegina- Colonna (excavations of the University of Salzburg from 1966, with Praschak's participation 1973-1979).

Günter Praschak followed Kurt Ohnsorg's call in autumn 1969 to support him as an assistant at the then art school of the city of Linz in setting up the ceramics master class . After Ohnsorg's suicide all too early in the fall of 1970, he initially took over as head of the chair on a temporary basis. From 1973 until his retirement in 2004 he held a professorship at the Art University Linz . After his retirement he then worked as a freelance artist in his studio in Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna until his death in 2015 .

The artist was initially married to the artist Waltraud Praschak-Thalhammer (1968–1988) and last lived with his third wife, the painter Katja Praschak, in Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna.

Günter Praschak was a member of the artists' association MAERZ in Upper Austria. (from 1972), at the Künstlerhaus Wien (from 1975) and at the “Academie Internationale de la Ceramique, Geneva (AIC / IAC)” (from 1984).

Awards and invitations (selection)

• Ceramic Symposium Gmunden 1963, 1978;
• International Ceramic Symposium Stoob , Burgenland , 1972;
• Gdansk , Poland : Medal at the International Competition, 1981;
• Faenza / Italy : Diploma “Concorso internationale della ceramica d`arte”, 1982;
• Culture Prize of the State of Upper Austria for Fine Arts, 1984;
• International Ceramic Symposium Kassel , 1990;
• International Ceramic Symposium Bechyně , 1992;
• Prize of the Jury, 2nd Cairo International Biennale for Ceramics, 1994;
• IKSIT - International Ceramic Symposium Innsbruck-Tirol, 2005;
• International Terracotta Symposium, Eskişehir , Turkey , 2010;
• 8th International Symposium of Ceramic Art, Voglje-Šenčur, Slovenia , 2013.

Exhibitions (selection)

Personal exhibitions

• 1981 porcelain and ceramic works , Galerie Academia, Salzburg (catalog);
• 1981 vessels, sculptures and objects, building ceramics, models and reconstructions , University of Artistic and Industrial Design Linz (catalog);
• 1982 Tonlandschaft , Keramik Studio, Vienna ;
• 1985 Günter Praschak - vessels, sculptures, ceramic objects , gallery of the city of Stuttgart ;
• 1985 Günter Praschak - ceramics / ceramic works , (1) Museum of Applied Arts Vienna , (2) Galerie Unteres Belvedere , Vienna (catalog);
• 1988 Günter Praschak - ceramics , Weidan Gallery, Schärding ;
• 1989 Günter Praschak - ceramic works , Galerie MAERZ , Linz ;
• 1991, 1994 sculptures and vessels , Ceramic Arts Gallery, Vienna ;
• 1992 Günter Praschak: Céramiques , Galerie Leonelli, Lausanne ;
• 1993 Günter Praschak - ceramics , Kammerhofgalerie Gmunden ;
• 1995 Rudolf Leitner-Gründberg and Günter Praschak , Galerie F. Figl, Linz (with Rudolf Leitner-Gründberg);
• 1996 ceramics and sculpture , gallery on the city wall, Villach ;
• 1998 Terra Incognita , Bergerhaus Gallery, Gumpoldskirchen ;
• 1999–2000 sculptures and ships : (1) Westerwald Ceramics Museum ( Höhr-Grenzhausen / FRG), (2) Linz Art University (catalog);
• 2000 Günter Praschak - sculptures , Galerie Kunsttreff Küniglberg, Vienna ;
• 2001 Günter Praschak and Lubomir Silar , “Flora cum Arte” gallery, Tulln (with Lubomir Silar);
• 2001 Günter Praschak - sculptures , Galerie F. Figl, Linz ;
• 2006 Günter Praschak , Galerie am Markttor, Perchtoldsdorf ;
• 2009 Günter Praschak - ceramics , KONI Gallery, Linz ;
• 2015 Katja and Günter Praschak , gallery of the goldsmiths “the big bear”, Vienna (with Katja Praschak);
• 2016 counterweight , gallery artP.kunstverein, Perchtoldsdorf (posthumously, with Peter Ramsebner, Judith Wagner).

Group exhibitions

• 1967–1970, 1972-1973, 1982 Concorso internazionale della Ceramica d`Arte , Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche Faenza ;
• 1972 Kurt Ohnsorg and his circle , Austrian Museum for Applied Arts Vienna ;
• 1972 International exhibition of Ceramics 1972 , Victoria and Albert Museum , London (catalog);
• 1973 Ceramic Art of the World / L'art de la ceramique du monde 1973 , Alberta College of Art, Calgary / Canada (catalog);
• 1974 Exhibition of the Upper Austrian Werkbund , Universitätsplatz, City of Salzburg ;
• 1982 Ceramic sculpture , Austria. Gallery for Ceramics, Vienna ;
• 1982–1984 Art ceramics - contemporary forms , NöArt touring exhibition: St. Pölten , Krems an der Donau , Wiener Neustadt a . a. Places;
• 1983 Contemporary ceramics from Austria , Galerie Schneider, Freiburg im Breisgau ;
• 1985 Contemporary ceramics in Austria , Art Gallery - Ceramic Studio, Vienna ;
• 1986 Ceramic x 13: The Linz School in Klagenfurt , St. Paul Abbey in Lavanttal / Carinthia ;
• 1986 European contemporary ceramics , Keramion Museum, Frechen near Cologne (catalog);
• 1986–1987 Contemporary ceramics from Austria , traveling exhibition of the Austrian Ceramic Gallery: Veste Coburg , Hetjens Museum ( Düsseldorf ), Galerie Puls ( Brussels ), Sakıp Sabancı Museum ( Istanbul ), Kunstindustri Muset ( Copenhagen );
• 1988 Austrian artist , Galerie Kempf, Mollis / Switzerland (today: Municipality of Glarus Nord / Switzerland);
• 1988 4 ceramists from Austria , gallery of the Volkshochschule Leverkusen ;
• 1989 ceramics from Austria , Galerie Böwig, Hanover (catalog);
• 1989 Sculptures and spatial concepts - 75 years of the MAERZ artists' association , Museum Francisco-Carolinum (today: Landesgalerie Linz ) (catalog);
• 1990 Contemporary ceramics from Austria , Keramion Museum, Frechen near Cologne (catalog);
• 1991 Porcelain: modern unique items from 14 European countries: Thiemann Collection , Reinbek Castle , Reinbek b. Hamburg (catalog);
• 1992 Ceramics with a Passion, a private collection of modern ceramics , Museum Bellerive ( Zurich );
• 1992 Feuermale - International Ceramic Exhibition , Spitalspeicher, Offenburg / BRD;
• 1993–1994 ceramics from Austria , Galerie Künstlerbunker Karlstraße, Leverkusen / FRG;
• 1994 ceramic sculpture - body volume (exhibition at the Salzburg gallery in the Traklhaus ), Hipp-Halle, Gmunden ;
• 1996 Académie Internationale de la Céramique (AIC / IAC) members exhibition , Saga Prefectural Art Museum, Saga / Japan (catalog);
• 1996 20th century ceramics. Ingrid and Rudolf Welle Collection , City Gallery Paderborn and Welle Exhibition Center, Paderborn (catalog);
• 1998 The Human Figure , Kunstforum Kirchberg SG / Switzerland ;
• 1998 International Contemporary Ceramics from the Igal and Diane Silber Collection , Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach /Cal./USA (catalog);
• 1999 Sculptures in Clay , Rufford Craft Center, Newark-on-Trent / ( Nottinghamshire , England );
• 2000 ceramics at European universities: 13 portraits : (1) Saarländisches Künstlerhaus / Saarbrücken , (2) Keramion Museum, Frechen near Cologne (catalog);
• 2001 Nations Exhibition Austria : (1) Galerie Handwerk d. Chamber of Crafts Munich , (2) Gallery Handwerksform d. Chamber of Crafts Hanover ;
• 2003 Metal and Earth , Künstlerhaus Vienna ;
• 2004 Westerwald Prize , exhibition of the winners and candidates, Westerwald Ceramics Museum , Höhr-Grenzhausen / FRG;
• 2005 IKSIT - International Ceramic Symposium Innsbruck 2005 : (1) Foyer of the Hofburg (Innsbruck) , (2) Galerie Nothburga, Innsbruck (online catalog);
• 2006 Shape changes. Contemporary ceramics from Austria , Museum of Applied Arts Vienna (catalog);
• 2010 Foundation stone , Galerie Kontur, Vienna ;
• 2011 KiSte - ceramics , ceramics in the quarry Oberpullendorf / Burgenland ;
• 2013 milestones: MAERZ 1952 - 2002 : (1) Architekturforum Oberösterreich , (2) MAERZ (artists' association) , both Linz ;
• 2014 INTERN IV , artP.kunstverein, Perchtoldsdorf / Lower Austria ;
• 2015 ceramics in the quarry , quarry Oberpullendorf / Burgenland ;
• 2017 Ceramic out of passion. Günter Praschak, Ingrid Miura-Grininger, Barbara Reisinger , Martina Funder, Margarete Geffke, Gabriele Hain, Maria Baumgartner , Nö Documentation Center for Modern Art, St. Pölten (catalog)

Works in museums, collections and in public spaces (selection)

Museums

• Museum of Applied Arts Vienna (MAK);
• Oö. Landesmuseum Francisco-Carolinum, Landesgalerie Linz ;
• Keramion Museum for Contemporary Ceramics, Frechen near Cologne ;
• Lentos Art Museum Linz ;
• Ceramic Museum Westerwald , Höhr-Grenzhausen ;
• Saga Prefectural Art Museum, Saga (Saga) / Japan;
• Městské Muzeum, Bechyně , Czech Republic .

Collections

• Art collection of the province of Upper Austria;
• Art collection of the state of Lower Austria;
• Federal Art Collection (Art Section);
• Collection of the Kreissparkasse Westerwald ;
• Collection "Cornelis Ouwehand", Heiloo / NED (today: Museum Bellerive at the Zurich University of the Arts );
• Collection “Ingrid and Rudolf Welle”, Paderborn (today: Museum of Applied Arts (Gera) );
• Collection “Hans Thiemann”, Hamburg ;
• The Igal and Diane Silver Collection, Laguna Beach / Cal. UNITED STATES.

Works in public space

• (with Waltraud Praschak-Thalhammer & Alfons Ortner ): Ceramic wall in the so-called "TBC building", General Hospital of the City of Linz (1972);
• Brunnen , Haashof in the city of Wels (1978)

Publications

By Günter Praschak

• Günter Praschak (ed.): Ceramics: Exhibition in the City Museum Linz-Nordico / Exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts Vienna , Linz 1980: University of Artistic and Industrial Design Linz , master class for ceramics (catalog);
• Günter Praschak (catalog processing & technological commentary) / Max Kaindl-Hönig (ed., Texts): Arno Lehmann : Ceramics - Sculpture - Painting , Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1983 (catalog), ISBN 978-3-85349-090-7 .
• Günter Praschak / Ingrid Miura-Grininger / Eberhard Bauer / Frank Geffke: Rapid firing process for porcelain and stoneware with reducing firing: Project No. P 4189 of the FWF , Linz 1987: University of Artistic and Industrial Design Linz , master class for ceramics (research report on the FWF- Project);
• Heimo Kuchling / Maria Baumgartner / Günter Praschak: Ceramic Austria, exhibition Galerie Böwig , Hanover 1989 (catalog);
• Günter Praschak: Thoughts on ceramics, taking ceramic pots as an example , in: Maria Baumgartner (Hg): Neues Feuer. An exhibition project of ceramics at the University for Artistic and Industrial Design Linz , Linz 1999: Art University Linz , pp. 4–7, ISBN 3-901112-16-2 .
• Günter Praschak: Thoughts , in: IKSIT 2005: Online Catalog, Innsbruck 2005: IKSIT - International Ceramic Symposium Innsbruck-Tirol;
• Günter Praschak: Thoughts , in: AIC / IAC website, Geneva 2014: Academie Internationale de la Ceramique.

About Günter Praschak (selection)

• Brigitte Lang: Obituary: Professor Günter Praschak , in: New Ceramics, January 2016, p. 7.
• Johannes Parsch: Günter Praschak: Ceramist - Designer - University Teacher , in: New Ceramics: The European Ceramics Magazine, 10th year (2004) No. 4, pp. 8-13.
• Johannes Parsch: Gunter Praschak's Thoughts on Ceramics , in: Ceramics, art and perception ( Sydney ), No. 58, (2004), pp. 7-9.
• Irene Judmayer: Thoughts in Fire , Upper Austria News, December 23, 2000.
• Brigitta Höpler: Franz Josef Altenburg, Günter Praschak, Anton Raidel, Kurt Spurey: four Austrian ceramists , diploma thesis, University of Vienna 1994.
• Peter Gangl: State Culture Prize and Talent Promotion Awards for Fine Arts , in: Upper Austria Culture Report, February 28, 1985.
• Jan Tabor: An alchemist of timeless taste , In: Kurier, April 12, 1985.
• Peter Möseneder: Quartet of experts , in: OÖ Nachrichten, November 17, 1983.
• Kristian Sotriffer: The landscape of clay , in: Die Presse, November 10, 1982.
• Jan Tabor: Renunciation of Seduction , in: Kurier, March 22, 1981.
• Bärbl glasses: From the space furnace , in: OÖ Nachrichten, November 16, 1979.
• Peter Möseneder: Impressively simple idea , in: OÖ Nachrichten, November 7, 1977.

Web links

• Obituary for em. o. Univ.-Prof. Günter Praschak , in: Perchtoldsdorfer Rundschau 12/2015 to 1/2016, p. 22.
• Günter Praschak in: Basis wien website
• CV Günter Praschak at knabstrup-specialists, Denmark
• former Facebook page of Günter Praschak

References and comments

1. ↑ s. Museum f. Applied art Vienna (ed.): Alte und Moderne Kunst , 30.Jg. Nr. 200 (1985), p. 45 also online ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. queried on March 25, 2016. 
2. ↑ Hans Eska has been running a ceramics workshop in Munich since the 1930s. His son Franz Eska, later professor for ceramics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich , continued the business
3. ↑ Information on the Josef Hoffmann seminar for ceramic design , requested on January 27, 2017.
4. ↑ Info on Günter Praschak as a designer for Knabstrup ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 19, 2017. 
5. ↑ Tile designs by Günter Praschak and Waltraud Praschak-Thalhammer ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 19, 2017. 
6. ↑ Ceramic figures and vessels by Günter Praschak ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 19, 2017. 
7. ↑ Information on the excavations and finds in Aegina- Colonna, Greece , requested on February 14, 2017.
8. ↑ Günter Praschak, in: Membership directory of the Künstlerhaus Wien queried on December 12, 2015
9. ↑ Information about the artist Katja Praschak , requested on January 26, 2017.
10. ↑ Homepage and list of participants ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (in Turkish), accessed January 28, 2017.  
11. ↑ Information on Lubomir Silar online , requested on February 12, 2017.
12. ↑ Report on Galerie Kornelia Oberhauser, Linz , queried January 29, 2017.
13. ^ Franz Lipp: Upper Austrian Werkbund. In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. Volume 120, Linz 1975, p. 168 (report on the exhibition), PDF on ZOBODAT
14. ↑ Report on the exhibition including Günter Praschak , requested on January 27, 2017.
15. ↑ Praschak in the Upper Austrian Art Collection , queried January 29, 2017.
16. ↑ Information on the Lower Austrian Art Collection , requested on January 29, 2017.
17. ↑ today Artothek des Bundes , queried January 29, 2017.
18. ↑ Information on Haashof Wels and Günter Praschak's fountain there ( memento of the original from January 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 29, 2017. 
19. ↑ Online catalog , accessed January 28, 2017.
20. ↑ Member page Günter Praschak at AIC , queried January 28, 2017.