Josef Maria Odermatt

Josef Maria Odermatt (born April 1, 1934 in Stans ; † November 6, 2011 in Oberdorf ) was a Swiss sculptor and draftsman. He was one of the most important iron sculptors in Switzerland.

Life

"Four elements", iron sculpture in train

Odermatt was born the third of eleven children to a saddlery family. After graduating from primary school, he did an apprenticeship as a locksmith and attended courses at the Lucerne School of Applied Arts . From 1958 to 1960 he graduated from the Basel trade school and graduated as a qualified master locksmith. He spent 1960/1961 in Paris. There he met the sculptor and iron sculptor Robert Müller and the painter Bruno Müller. From 1962 he has his own house in Stans-Oberdorf with a forge workshop. In 1963 he was in Italy. In 1965 he built a studio house in the Hueb above Stans.

Odermatt was a board member of the Kunstgesellschaft Luzern and from 1986 to 1998 a member of the Gottfried Keller Foundation. He was married to the art historian Regula Bürgi and the couple had three children.

Work and exhibitions

Odermatt's iron sculptures mostly reflect industrial production processes. In his early works he refrained from welding. He connected the individual parts of his sculptures with hinges, rivets and screws. He placed special emphasis on the manual processing of the material using physical strength. His later works have a different character. From 1993 onwards, instead of screws and hinges, he sometimes used welding technology or wedged the iron parts together. He turned to more strict, geometric and often symmetrical forms that appear harmonious and self-contained. Many sculptures are cubic in character.

In 1971 Odermatt had his first solo exhibition. Numerous other exhibitions followed. His works are in numerous museums in Switzerland.

Awards

1968 Kiefer-Hablitzel scholarship
2004 Central Switzerland Culture Prize

literature

Matthias Frehner (Ed.): Eisen und Stahl , Volume 3: Josef Maria Odermatt , Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3858813978
Brigit Staiger (Ed.): Josef Maria Odermatt - Catalog of works of iron sculptures 1962–2007 , Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-85881-232-2
Romano Cuonz : He was strong as a bear and yet vulnerable . Obituary in the Neue Obwaldner Zeitung, November 9, 2011, p. 21

Web links

Josef Maria Odermatt , biography of the Lucerne Art Museum
Josef Maria Odermatt , entry in the artist directory of the Foundation Edition Winterthur
Josef Maria Odermatt - Turbine Giswil 2007 , video contribution by ART-TV to the retrospective in the Turbine Giswil 2007, 3:13 minutes
On the award of the Central Switzerland Culture Prize 2004 to Josef Maria Odermatt, iron sculptor and draftsman, Stans , media release January 2004
Odermatt, Josef Maria. In: Sikart
Obituary by Pirmin Meier

Remarks

↑ According to the entry in the Who's Who , the place of death is Stans, presumably in the ignorance that Oberdorf is actually to be seen as the upper (eastern) part of Stans, but together with Büren and the mountain village of Niederrickenbach it is an independent municipality.

personal data
SURNAME	Odermatt, Josef Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss sculptor and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH	April 1, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stans
DATE OF DEATH	November 6, 2011
Place of death	Oberdorf NW

[1] According to the entry in the Who's Who , the place of death is Stans, presumably in the ignorance that Oberdorf is actually to be seen as the upper (eastern) part of Stans, but together with Büren and the mountain village of Niederrickenbach it is an independent municipality.