Klaus Paier (graffiti artist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Lovers” - back entrance to Café Kittel, Aachen, Pontstraße

Klaus Paier (born September 8, 1945 in Essen , † July 9, 2009 in Cologne ) was a German graffiti and street artist. He became known as the “Aachen Wall Painter”.

Life

After completing his schooling, Klaus Paier initially trained as a locksmith at Thyssenkrupp . Paier then visited the Ruhr College in Essen and graduated from high school there . Since 1976 he has been studying physics at the I. Physics Institute A at RWTH Aachen University , where he obtained his physics diploma . Through his studies he became aware of the risks and dangers of nuclear power , and he documented this in his pictures. Since 1978 Paier has been out and about at night to paint pictures on concrete walls in downtown Aachen, on the RWTH grounds and on occupied houses.

Klaus Paier, often accompanied by his friend at the time, Josef Stöhr (born 1958, lives and works in Berlin), has not yet used spray cans . First, the artist created a precise sketch in A4 format. Then he painted the text and image works at night, mostly in much larger formats, initially as a contour, and on the second night these were worked out in color. He worked with emulsion paint . Paier consciously chose topics and places in public space that should stimulate thought. At first Paier worked anonymously and once said: "I want to put on the wall what makes me want and fear". Almost all of his works of art are no longer there due to destruction, painting over, decay or structural changes.

former chapel in the Höverhaus

For years, those responsible in the city of Aachen had his murals etched away. In 1981, Paier and Stöhr skilfully painted the back wall of the chapel in solidarity with the squatters in the Johannes Höver House in Aachen . In 1983 his “bunker picture” was destroyed, which was supposed to commemorate the murder of 14-year-old youths, Karl Schwartz and Johann Herren, in September 1944, who were shot dead by soldiers of the Greyhound Division. Allegedly they should have looted. The Aachen city council later decided not to remove the still existing murals.

Wolfgang Becker , the then director of the Neue Galerie and later director of the Ludwig Forum for International Art , bought and exhibited some photographs by Paier about his 100 works in 1984. The exhibition brochure said: “You are a piece of art and contemporary history from the 1980s. The graffiti by Klaus Paier and other street art artists, such as the world-famous Zurich sprayer Harald Naegeli , are typical of the younger, critical generation. "

In 1989 Paier was awarded the New Prize by the New Aachen Art Association. He was already living in Cologne then. Here he caused a stir with his cycle of murals “South Africa is on fire”. In it he took up the bloody apartheid policy. In Cologne he received commissioned work and was invited to discussions. He also became known for his art “Don't worry” on the facade of a commercial building in the city center. The planned removal of one of his political murals in Elsaßstrasse in Cologne's Südstadt district at the instigation of the Cologne Anti-Spray Campaign (KASA) led to a wave of outrage and the mural was preserved. In Cologne, the physicist and wall painter became a lecturer at the adult education center. He developed the idea for the Thurner Hof organic garden . There he managed many different projects with great success. The city of Cologne awarded its environmental prize in 1990 for the plantation of the farm garden and the orchard meadow.

Klaus Paier died on July 9, 2009 in Cologne after a long hospital stay of leukemia .

On the initiative of the former Lord Mayor of Aachen Kurt Malangré , the graffito “Lovers” was placed under monument protection by the Lower Monument Authority of the City of Aachen . The possibilities of placing the remaining works under protection are still being examined. Since the mural "Between the days ..." threatened to deteriorate, Aachen citizens fought for the preservation of the picture and the WDR broadcast a contribution on September 2, 2014 in the local time Aachen. The Aachen city council passed this resolution unanimously on September 3, 2014. This work was also placed under monument protection, as was the picture “The Great War” in 2015.

Picture gallery

  • "Atomic energy brings death" - Aachen, Schinkelstrasse

  • “The shadow of Hiroshima” - Aachen, Forckenbeckstrasse

  • "... says NO" / "Never again war" - Aachen, Saarstrasse bunker

  • "It's urgent ..." - Aachen, Reihstrasse

  • "Swimmer" - Aachen, Borngasse

  • "Between the days ..." - Aachen, Augustinerbach

  • "Dancer" - Aachen, Löhergraben (next to the baroque factory)

  • "... then there is only one thing, says NO" - Aachen, Bunker Junkerstraße

  • “Ecce Homo” - Aachen, Forckenbeckstrasse

  • “The Great War” - Aachen, Augustinerbach

  • “The final” - Aachen, Schinkelstrasse

  • “Never again war” - Aachen, Saarstrasse bunker

  • "Untitled" - Aachen, Goerdelerstraße

  • “The Great War” - Aachen, Augustinerbach

  • "The house eaters" - Aachen, Karlsgraben

  • "Forced feeding" - Aachen, Johanniterstraße

  • "Occupied" - Aachen, Rütscherstraße (next to Höverhaus)

  • Battle of Elsaßstrasse March 3, 1933 - Cologne, Elsaßstrasse bunker

Exhibitions

  • In 1984, photos that Klaus Paier made of his wall paintings were exhibited in the Neue Galerie Aachen for the first time.
  • The solo exhibition “Sprühansichten - (Aachener Graffiti)” in the Bürgercafé C'est la Via in Aachen- Preuswald honored the work of Klaus Paier in August / September 2009.
  • In the summer of 2010, photos of his works were shown as part of the “Focus 03” exhibition at the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen.
  • From August 12 to October 31, 2011, the photo exhibition Wall paintings by the Aachen mural painter Klaus Paier took place in Café Kittel (Aachen, Pontstraße) .
  • Streetart 1978–2012 - A journey through time Group exhibition with the pictures of Lake13 (March 1 to May 31, 2012, Nell-Breuning-Haus - Herzogenrath).
  • In the community street art photo exhibition Infatuated , which took place in Heerlen in the Netherlands as part of the Cultura Nova Festival 2016, four photos of Paier artworks were exhibited from August 27 to September 4, 2016.
  • From April 9 to October 1, 2017, the exhibition "Optical Screams - The Aachen Wall Painter Klaus Paier" took place at the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen.
  • From October 8 to 22, 2017, the joint street art exhibition “color tracks” took place in the Eschweiler valley station in Eschweiler. I.a. 14 photos of Paier works were exhibited.

Video documentations

The KAOS film and video team produced three documentaries for WDR which are preserved in the KAOS art and video archive eV Cologne.

  • 1984: “Our art doesn't like museums” House painting - provocation in the street scene
  • 1985: "The bunker picture in Aachener Saarstraße"
  • 1986: "For K." The wall painter from Aachen in the KAOS gallery

Web links

Picture galleries and articles:

Commons : Works by Klaus Paier  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Kleinert: For K. on: NRhZ.online
  2. ↑ Alexander Barth: The Klaus-Paier-Graffito. Graffiti as a political statement. In: 111 places in Aachen and the Euregio that you have to see. Emons-Verlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-89705-931-3 , pp. 100-101.
  3. ↑ Georg Giesing: "South Africa is burning!" - on the Cologne north-south route. on: NRhZ.online
  4. ↑ Organic garden and beekeeping on the Thurner Hof. ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ dpa : Illegal graffiti become a memorial. In: Aachener Nachrichten. May 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ Monika Krücken: Who was Klaus Paier? An approach to the wall painter from Aachen. In: Preservation of monuments in the Rhineland. Volume 28, 2011, pp. 40-41.
  7. ↑ Greens are strong in the council for endangered murals. Council proposal for the protection status "Between the days". In: Aachener Nachrichten. August 21, 2014.
  8. ^ Regina and Dieter Weinkauf: Klaus Paier "Aachener Wandmaler" (1945 - 2009). on: Streetart 1978–2012 - a journey through time , accessed on March 14, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Paier, Klaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aachen wall painter (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graffiti artist
DATE OF BIRTH September 8, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH eat
DATE OF DEATH July 9, 2009
Place of death Cologne