Ursus Wehrli

Ursus Wehrli presents art tidying up at the Pinc Conference in Zeist, Holland

Ursus Wehrli at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2011

Ursus Wehrli (* 13. August 1969 in Aarau as Urs Wehrli ) is a Swiss cabaret artist , visual artist , photographer , comedian and performance artist .

Life

Ursus Wehrli was born in Aarau and is a trained typographer . Since 1987 he has appeared together with Nadja Sieger as the cabaret duo Ursus & Nadeschkin . So far, this duo has produced ten full-length programs that made them known in the German-speaking world.

Wehrli was also a guest several times on the show with the mouse , where he played a man who abhorred disorder and tried to put any disorder he saw in order, which often caused him problems. His actions were commented on by Elke Heidenreich .

Work as a visual artist and author

In addition to his work in the duo Ursus & Nadeschkin , Wehrli works as a visual artist. He caused a sensation in 2002 with the project “Clean up art”, in which he cut up reproductions of well-known images and reassembled them in a new, but geometrically arranged manner.

With his project “The Art of Tidying Up”, in which he cleared up real issues and scenes, he also became known outside of Switzerland. In addition to "tidying up" a bowl of french fries or alphabet soup , he cleared a parking lot full of cars according to color, a football team into naked men and stacks of clothes, etc., as well as an entire bathing area. In doing so, he crossed the line between mere photo art and action art and happenings . The actions were also documented through films. In spring 2012, Swiss Post issued a stamp designed by Wehrli.

Wehrli's books have been translated into over 15 languages, sold over a million times worldwide and are used as teaching material in many schools.

Wehrli regularly performs solo and presents a stage version of “Art Tidying Up”, in which he also auctions pictures live and donates the proceeds to the Swiss Messi Association.

In 2020 Wehrli's book “Today I almost experienced something” was published, a diary and handwritten narration of presumably fictional events.

Works

For works together with Nadja Sieger, see Ursus & Nadeschkin .

Books

• Clean up art. Kein & Aber, Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-0369-5200-4 .
  • Tidying Up Art. Foreword by Albrecht Götz von Olenhusen, translated by Rosie Jackson. Prestel, Munich / Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-7913-3003-9 (English).
  • L'arte a soqquadro. Translated by Stafano Bartezzaghi. Edizione il Castoro, Milano 2008, ISBN 978-88-8033-470-5 (Italian).
• Clean up even more art. Kein & Aber, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-036952-31-4 .
• The art of cleaning up. Kein & Aber, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-0369-5297-0 .
  • Photos en bazar , Éditions Milan, Toulouse 2014, ISBN 978-2-7459-5530-2 . ( L'art en bazar. 2014, ISBN 978-2-7459-5533-3 (French))
  • The Art of Clean Up, Life made neat and tidy, Chronicle Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4521-1416-3
• Today I almost experienced something. No & But, Zurich 2020, ISBN 978-3-0369-5827-9 .

Other

• The art of cleaning up , poster set. No & But, 2011, ISBN 978-3-036912-73-8 .
• Design of the “Ursus Wehrli - Art Tidying Up” stamp, special Swiss Post stamp at 1.00 francs, May 9, 2012

Awards (selection)

For awards from the duo Ursus & Nadeschkin see there.

• 2015: 1st place Nonbook Award at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the memo game The Art of Tidying Up
• 2017: German Design Award for the memory game The Art of Tidying Up

Web links

Commons : Ursus Wehrli  - Collection of Images

• Literature by and about Ursus Wehrli in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website «cleaning up art»
• Website of the duo «Ursus and Nadeschkin»

Individual evidence

1. ↑ biblio.at
2. ↑ Julia Christian: Ursus Wehrli: The art of cleaning up. ( Memento from April 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at blog.musikexpress.de
3. ↑ rp-online.de ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2011 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. 
4. ↑ youtube.com
5. ↑ youtube.com
6. ↑ youtube.com
7. ↑ Press release , accessed on May 4, 2016.
8. ↑ Briefmarkenfrühling , Swiss Post press releases of May 8, 2012, accessed on February 19, 2020
9. ^ Image of the stamp on the Swiss Post website, accessed on February 19, 2020