Ulf Mayer

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Ulf Mayer (born May 25, 1926 in Kalwang ; † June 22, 2018 in Graz ) was an Austrian sculptor . His wife was the academic painter Edith Mayer-Hammer (1926–2011).

Live and act

Ulf Mayer was born on May 25, 1926 in the municipality of Kalwang in Liesingtal , but grew up in Weißenbach an der Enns , near the border with Upper Austria . He completed his school education, among other things, at the grammar school in Waidhofen an der Ybbs in Lower Austria, about 40 kilometers away . In 1944 and 1945 he did his military service, which he had to end prematurely due to an injury, which in turn led to an intensive occupation with the subject of nativity scenes in their artistic form. From 1946 to 1948 Mayer attended the master school for wood and stone carving in Graz, where he was taught by Walter Ritter and Alexander Silveri , among others, and Erich Unterweger was one of his schoolmates. Here he was also trained in life drawing by Rudolf Szyszkowitz . After successfully leaving school, he studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1948 to 1952 , where he also received his diploma as an academic sculptor. In Vienna he was taught by Fritz Wotruba and Herbert Boeckl , who taught the evening act.

From 1952 Mayer appeared as a freelance sculptor in Graz. In the early years of his career he created commissioned works in the form of large sculptures, reliefs or fountains. He also worked on interior design in public and private spaces in Styria using the materials stone (especially Salla marble from the quarry in Salla ), concrete, artificial stone, and later also ceramics in and on official buildings, schools and forecourts. Initially, Mayer was thematically influenced by the post-war years and numerous church commissions. From the mid-1950s on, numerous works and sculptures were created in the sacred area. Large and small-format works can still be found in various materials on and in sacred buildings and charitable institutions in Graz and the rest of Styria. Also in the mid-1950s, more precisely in 1954, he founded a family with Edith Mayer-Hammer (1926–2011), an academic painter, whose marriage resulted in three children, all of whom pursued an artistic career. The oldest child, daughter Michaela († 2018), born in 1955 , became a costume designer and was represented as such on various stages in the German-speaking area. In 1958 the son Julian , who later became a stage designer and lecturer , was born and in 1967 the son Daniel followed , a later composer. Even during his early days, studios and gardens in Graz-Wetzelsdorf filled up with small sculptures Mayer made of various materials such as wood, clay or bronze. Ulf Mayer's emerging eagerness to experiment with materials was already evident.

The now listed war memorial in Eisenerz ; a work from 1962.

At the side of his wife he worked on mosaics and war memorials in the post-war period in the course of " Art in Architecture " . In the content and artistic interpretation of the “ war memorial ”, the transformation into a “ memorial against war ” takes place. He expressed this with the expressive parabola created in 1962 in stamped concrete with a length of 28 meters in iron ore . Over a period of 28 years, from 1961 to 1988 at the HTL Ortweinplatz as a teacher of plastic design, painting and art history. Financial security enabled him to experiment with new materials and design techniques in large-scale sculpture. From 1970 onwards, intensive occupation with ceramic techniques and their implementation in our own ceramic furnace led to the creation of large ceramic sculptures in public spaces over the next 17 years, which are considered unique in Austria. From 1980 he turned to wood again and created not only sculptural seating furniture, but also dramatic sculptures up to 2.70 m high and various other objects made of wood.

The humanitarian artistic work of Ulf Mayer is closely linked to his involvement in socio-cultural areas. After several years as a member of the Steiermärkischer Kunstverein Werkbund , he moved with his wife Edith to the Association of Styrian Visual Artists , of which he was also president from 1978 to 2002. Between 1979 and 1994, on Mayer's initiative, cribs, which were designed by visual artists, were presented at the “Advent celebration” of the city of Graz. Then these nativity scenes were given to the Graz City Museum as a gift. In 1991 a wood sculptor symposium was installed as part of the St. Gallen Festival in the Steirische Eisenwurzen , which took place three times in this constellation in the castle ruins of Gallenstein .

The nativity scene has been a major thematic focus in Mayer's work since around 1969, after having dealt intensively with the subject of nativity scenes for the first time around 25 years earlier. He created nativity scenes in all types of wood, but also in terracotta or glazed stoneware . Annual national exhibitions on the occasion of the occasion give evidence of Mayer's creativity in creating a wide variety of nativity scenes. He exhibited his cribs at home and abroad, including in the RELíGIO - Westphalian Museum for Religious Culture or at annual and special exhibitions of the Kunstverein Werkbund and the Association of Visual Artists in the Künstlerhaus, as well as in the Styrian region. In 2008, Ulf Mayer self-published an illustrated book entitled Christmas Cribs , which documents the comprehensive work of Ulf Mayer's nativity scenes. His wife died on September 15, 2011 at the age of 85 in her hometown of Graz. On June 22, 2018, Mayer also died in Graz at the age of 92.

Works of art in public space (commissioned work; selection)

The now listed war memorial in Mariahof ; a joint work of the newlyweds at the time from 1954.
One of the three sculptures "Three Children" in front of the University Children's Hospital of the LKH Graz
  • 1954: War memorial Maria Hof / St. Lambrecht in the Murtal; 2 reliefs, glass window (Edith Mayer-Hammer)
  • 1954: elementary school Leoben / Leitendorf; Floor mosaic and drinking fountain (artificial stone)
  • 1955: Graz City Building Office: Town Hall - wedding hall; "Two people" (sculpture made of artificial stone, height: 0.80 m)
  • 1956: Agricultural district authority: Stainach official building; (1.40 m × 4.30 m; 0.90 × 2.00 m)
  • 1956: Residential building Vienna XIX, Hutweidengasse; Ceramic mosaic with a swan motif
  • 1956: Styrian provincial government: Landesturnhalle Graz; Drinking fountain design made of artificial stone and ceramic mosaic (Edith Mayer-Hammer)
  • 1956: Housing complex Vienna XII, Hetzendorferstrasse 43–45; Artistic facade design, relief from concrete cut
  • 1957: State Construction Office (Arbeitsamt / AMS) Graz, Babenbergerstraße 33–35; 2 bas-reliefs in the entrance area (natural stone)
  • 1958: City Building Office Judenburg; War memorial - 2 reliefs (Salla marble, each 2.40 m × 2.40 m)
  • 1958: Residential house (reconstruction fund) - Griesplatz 28–29, Graz; Fountain sculpture "Girl with a water feature" (Salla marble, 1.20 m × 0.80 m × 2.00 m)
  • 1959: Vorau community, market square; Fountain design (trough with relief band made of Salla marble; 2.00 m × 0.80 m × 0.60 m)
  • 1959: Styrian regional government: busts of important personalities of the Styrian cultural and intellectual life:
    • 1. "Archduke Johann", BH Liezen (bronze, height: 0.50 m, lost)
    • 2. "Peter Tunner", Grazer Burg, 2. Burghof, Hofgasse 13–15 (height: 0.50 m)
  • 1960: Federal Ministry for Trade and Reconstruction: Graz Women's High School, St. Peter (today St. Peter School Center), schoolyard; "Caryatids" (sculpture made of Fiori Montana marble; 1.40 m × 1.30 m × 2.00 m)
  • 1961: Bundesgymnasium Graz, Theodor-Körner-Straße (today BG and BRG Carnerigasse); "Generations" (sculpture, light artificial stone, 1.20 m × 1.10 m × 2.20 m)
  • 1962: Stadtamt Eisenerz: "War memorial" (parabolic relief and bell tower; unique stamped concrete 28 m × 4 m)
  • 1968: Federal Ministry for Education and the Arts, purchase: "Madonna" (stoneware, height: 0.95 m)
  • 1969: Non-profit housing association, residential complex Liebenauer Hauptstrasse 289; "Better future", "Christophorus" (stoneware, height: 2.75 m)
  • 1971: New building of the University Children's Clinic of the Graz Regional Hospital, Auenbruggerplatz 30, Hof; "Three Children" (3 sculptures, stoneware, larger than life)
  • 1972: Private client (Stenzel); House facade design using glazed ceramics (relief)
  • 1975: Road and Bridge Construction Office: New construction of the Nusser Bridge in St. Gallen; Bridge artwork (concrete and glazed ceramics; 2.00 m × 0.50 m × 2.50 m)
  • 1976: Kindberg nursing home; Artistic equipment of the ballroom (ceramic wall design; 6.00 m × 2.60 m)
  • 1979: Stanglmühlstrasse residential complex, Graz-Liebenau; "More beautiful future", "Monument to Josef Krainer" (concrete and glazed ceramics; height: 5 m)
  • 2006: Styrian State Exhibition (Paths to Health) in Bruck an der Mur; Basin sculpture (interactive sculpture in cooperation with Otto Fleiss)

Sculptures in the sacred area (selection)

  • 1955: Münzgrabenkirche, Münzgrabenstrasse 61; Design of the west gallery and pulpit (relief made of red artificial stone)
  • 1957: Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary; Convent of the Franciscans, Franziskanerplatz 14, Graz; (Tabernacle)
  • 1957: Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Vorau (then seminary in Graz); "Immakulata" (wooden sculpture, silver-plated copper, height: 1.73 m)
  • 1960: Diocese of Graz / Rectorate of the Stiegenkirche, Sporgasse 21–23, Graz (currently sacristy of the Stiegenkirche); "Crucifix" (linden wood, height: 2.50 m)
  • 1961: Church building in Rohrbach an der Lafnitz; "Tabernacle with body" (stone), 6 candlesticks (silver-plated), "Eternal light", bas-relief on the pulpit
  • 1961: Rupertikirche in Hohenrain / Lustbühel, Rupertstrasse 121; Altar crucifix, eternal light dove, tabernacle
  • 1965: Church “St. Christoph ”in Thondorf, Liebenauer Hauptstrasse 289; "Crucifix" (body made of wood)
  • 1967: Caritas-Heim Schönaugasse, Graz (Borromäum); Mess chapel (women's helper school), “crucifix” (pear wood), “Madonna” (terracotta), tabernacle
  • 1972: School Sisters Eggenberg, Graz; Way of the Cross (ceramic), crib (terracotta), "Christ enthroned"
  • 1976: St. Jakobskirche Klingenbach (Burgenland); "Way of the Cross" stations made of glazed ceramic
  • 1977: St. Andreas Parish Church, Draßmarkt (Burgenland); "Way of the Cross" stations made of glazed ceramic
  • 1989: Parish Church of St. Elisabeth, Webling, weekday chapel, Glesingerstraße 36, Graz; "Crucifixion with thieves" (linden wood, taken)
  • 1989: Hospital of the Barmherzigen Brüder Graz-Eggenberg; "Johannes von Gott", external relief (stoneware; height: 2.75 m)
  • 1990/91: Parish Church of St.Vinzenz, Chapel of Mercy, Vinzenzgasse 42, Graz; Altar and tabernacle (linden wood)

Nativity scene exhibitions (selection)

(since 1994 - as staff, unless otherwise stated)

Awards

Documentations and publications

  • Catalogs of "religio I" and "religio II"
  • Presentation in "steirische reports" 6/1961 (by Erich Gschwendt )
  • "Art and Artists in Styria" (by Rudolf List ), Upper Austrian State Publishing House , Ried im Innkreis 1967
  • "Der Krippenfreund", various issues
  • Catalogs of the Association of Visual Artists Styria (1978–2002)
  • Ulf and Edith Mayer: Styrian portraits in "steirische berichte" 4/1990 (by Heribert Schwarzbauer )
  • Ulf Mayer: Christmas cribs , self-published, Graz 2008
  • Visible traces of the Styrian Association of Visual Artists in public space , image lexicon, 2012

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary notice
  2. ↑ Michaela Mayer-Michnay on the official website of the Graz Opera , accessed on September 21, 2017
  3. ↑ Julian Mayer on the official website of the Art University Graz , accessed on September 21, 2017
  4. ^ Official website of Daniel Mayer , accessed on September 21, 2017
  5. ^ History of the VBK , accessed on September 21, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Mayer, Ulf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Kalwang , Austria
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 2018
Place of death Graz