Siegfried Strasser

Siegfried Strasser , artist name Sigi Strasser (born October 1, 1929 in Linz ; † June 26, 2017 in Wels , Upper Austria) was an Austrian artist, painter, author, philosopher and visionary. He was the inventor of the "Pictotopes".

life and career

Sigi Strasser spent his childhood and youth in Wels. After several years of civil service as a dispatcher with the Austrian Federal Railways, he decided on a career as an artist. After years in Vienna, Linz and America he lived as a freelance artist in Wels, Upper Austria. From 1960 to 1964 he graduated from the Linz Art School in (today: Art University Linz), from which he graduated with distinction. From 1972 to 1974 he taught as a guest lecturer at the free art school (Rödelschule -Kunstakademie) Mannheim Germany.

plant

As an artist, Strasser went his own way at a young age. He developed a working technique with which he was able to use the vocabulary of the technical world as a painter. The use of the machine - in connection with the use of appropriate materials - led to metamorphoses of a no longer pleasant, to a playful, cheerful world. His relief structures are precisely worked out and, despite all the formal discipline, always escalate into the fantastic, the grotesque, and only rarely into the threatening.

The targeted experimentation with different materials and colors led to an extraordinary visual technique and new artistic territory. Through various artistic work processes, bas-reliefs were created, which the artist called "pictotopes" and which found recognition in the international art scene. The term "Pictotop" was invented by the artist himself.

Pictotop: The application of various graphic techniques (drawings, painting), which are used depending on the subject of the pictures, creates “pictural topos”, which can be applied in many variants, whereby the material used is completely alienated.

At the center of his artistic work was the theoretical and intellectual examination of questions of art and their significance for people in a destructive, technological world. His critical, ironic, but above all humorous considerations of life manifested themselves in the idea of ​​developing bizarre steam locomotives with the background that “the internal combustion engine was never invented”. From these life-dominating phenomena, works of art were created by steam locomotives, which became famous above all for their subtle humor. By awarding an advertising catalog "The New York Festival 1993" from the FA. CREATEAM advertising agency from Linz, in which Strasser's locomotives were the focus, in New York (Award), these works also found international recognition. 

The “opening up of the Matterhorn for rail traffic”, a Uchronie (that is, a historical fact) in pictures and text, was one of his last projects. Based on the mountain drama that occurred during the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, the English, the Germans, the Italians, the French and the Swiss allegedly decided to build mountain railways on the various degrees that were designed accordingly by the artist. This work remained unfinished.

The type of "taking pictures", since painting can only be spoken of to a limited extent, has not yet triggered any known effects or adoption by other artists, as the complex work process, compared to today's art practices, requires a multiple of planning preparation and timing . The process, which from a contemporary point of view seemed rather uneconomical, allowed the "picture maker", as he liked to call himself, a rather small - but inimitable - life production despite permanent creativity.

Strasser incorporated mechanical and technical elements into his pictures and sculptures . Some of the works can be brought into different positions and then show a different picture or the inner workings of a picture.

Awards

• City of Wels Gold Medal of Merit (April 26, 2016)
• Golden culture medal of the city of Wels (September 7, 2004 official report)

Solo exhibitions (selection)

• 1966 Hamburger Kunstverein
• 1968 Galleria Montenapoleone, Milano
• 1970 Galleria I Gorno, Milano, GalleriaTriade, Torino, Galleria Isalotto, Como
• 1972 Lufthansa-Kennedy Airport, New York
• 1975 Welz Gallery, Salzburg
• 1976 Mayor Ludwig Reichert House in Ludwigshafen
• 1976 Wiener Künstlerhaus
• 1976 "10 Years of the International Painting Weeks" Graz Artists' House
• 1988 gallery on the city wall of Villach
• 1996 "A fantasy takes shape", Wels
• 2007–2009 "Galerie Artico" art gallery Wallern on the Trattnach
• 2013 "Strasser Exhibition", Hotel Hauser
• Ongoing exhibitions in Wels Bahnzeit Exhibition in Linz, Villach, Wels and Vienna.

Publications

• "SIGISTRASSER-LOKOMOTIVEN", Carinthia Klagenfurt (1984), "Der Fall St." Zug der Zeit - Zeit der Zug, Siedler Berlin (1985),
• "SIGISTRASSER, Away from tradition and fashion", Plieseis publishing house, Wels (1992) ISBN 3-85410-076-0 .

Web links

• Siegfried Strasser: A big one left , nachrichten.at
• SIGISTRASSER + GERHARD LEHNER , gallery of the city of Wels
• Sigi Strasser gets "own" floor - mein district.at

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [SIGISTRASSER (1992), Away from tradition and fashion, page 117 Verlag Plieseis Wels Austria ISBN 3-85410-076-0 , ISBN 9783854100768 ]
2. ↑ The Sigi Strasser Drawings on Douglas Self's page about fictional steam locomotives
3. ^ Regional media Austria: Gold medal of merit for veteran artist Siegfried Strasser . In: mein district.at . ( mein district.at [accessed on November 16, 2017]).
4. ↑ steirischer herbst: 10 years of the International Painting Weeks / steirischer herbst 1976 / years / archive / home - steirischer herbst. Retrieved on November 16, 2017 (German). 
5. ↑ Heino Blum: A fantasy takes shape. Sigi Strasser exhibition in Wels with ready-to-drive models March 4th, 1996. November 11, 2012, accessed November 16, 2017 . 
6. ^ Artico Gallery - Regiowiki. Retrieved November 16, 2017 . 
7. ^ Regional media Austria: Sigi Strasser gets "own" floor . In: mein district.at . ( mein district.at [accessed on November 16, 2017]).
8. ↑ Railway time. Retrieved November 16, 2017 .