Walter Kurowski

Walter Kurowski (born August 20, 1939 in Kettwig ; † October 18, 2017 in Oberhausen ) was a German artist , caricaturist and jazz musician .

life and work

Life

Walter Kurowski was born in what is now the Essen district of Kettwig. After a discontinued training with an engraver, in which the profession could not be learned, but mainly running errands and looking after small animals, Kurowski applied to the Folkwang School of Design in Essen. He completed this in 1960 with the Folkwang performance award for graphics. In 1969 he co-founded the "K14 Factory" in Oberhausen, a communication center and association for political education and to this day the oldest, still existing socio-cultural center in Germany. The father of three children lived and worked in Oberhausen until his death.

art

Kurowski's artistic oeuvre is characterized by depictions of nature from his immediate surroundings, such as the Oberhausen Imperial Garden or holidays in Croatia and Italy. Female nudes are just as much a part of his extensive work as lithographic interpretations of works by Bertolt Brecht , Alexander Puschkin and Kurt Tucholsky . Politically particularly committed to the working class, he designed caricatures for company newspapers and posters for unions such as IG Metall or parties such as the SPD , the Greens or the DKP . Above all, the issues of labor disputes and the death of collieries in the Ruhr area as well as the fight against fascism played an important role in his work. For the former permanent exhibition in the Oberhausen Memorial Hall , he created a much-noticed frieze from paintings. The many political and socially critical caricatures that he published in 1978 in his “KURO” book, among other things, have not lost their relevance and explosiveness to this day. As a cartoonist for WAZ Oberhausen, Kurowski summarized current topics from Oberhausen and Germany in his impressive and unmistakable drawings on a weekly basis. In addition, Walter Kurowski was a drawing teacher at the VHS Oberhausen for over 40 years. He taught life drawing and the lithography press. Walter Kurowski has signed his works of art since the 1960s with the abbreviation "KURO", with which he was addressed by friends and family.

music

Kurowski came into contact with jazz music while he was still a student. The flugelhorn and double bass became his two preferred musical instruments, which he played in many of the jazz events he initiated. The "Jazz Carousel" series, which KURO organized almost weekly for years with various jazz artists from home and abroad, has become an integral part of Oberhausen's cultural offerings and is being continued by Kurowski's eldest daughter, jazz singer Eva Kurowski .

estate

As the cultural legend KURO, Walter Kurowski has pushed the cultural work in Oberhausen for decades and has made a significant contribution to the arts and music with countless contributions and events. Shortly before his death in 2017, the city of Oberhausen acquired the artistic estate and thus secured it for posterity. In the Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen , an art historian deals with the scientific processing and inventory of his works, caricatures, posters and visual arts. This will lead to an exhibition: “Walter Kurowski - artist * caricaturist * cultural legend. A retrospective from 1956-2015 ”will open on January 31, 2021.

Exhibitions (selection)

1960 Folkwang performance award, Folkwang School foyer, Essen
1966 "Walter Kurowski - lithographs, watercolors, drawings" Foyer Städt. Stages Oberhausen
1979 "Where should all this end ..." Elefanten Press Galerie Berlin
1979 KURO "Art that is needed" Elefanten Press Galerie Ludgeriestr. 55 Munster
1982 "KURO caricatures" Distel, Sterkrader Strasse 117 Oberhausen
1986 KURO political posters from 15 years, exhibition in the town hall of Sterkrade Oberhausen
1990 ... right and left in my life! KURO shows stone prints monotypes, ARKA Kulturwerkstatt eV Essen
1991 “... that's how you look! - Drawings from the economy "Pencil, pen, ink, oil, restaurant Haus Wahl, Marktstrasse 38 Oberhausen
1991 “Don Quixote - Lithographs, Monotype, Drawings”, Falstaff Theater Restaurant, Ebertstraße Oberhausen
2009 "... oh women are beautiful!", Gdanska Oberhausen
2012 "My Lithos - 1958-2000" Factory K14, Lothringer Straße Oberhausen
2013 “Posters from 50 years on culture and politics” Factory K14, Lothringer Straße Oberhausen
2015 Graphics by Walter Kurowski, insights into an unbelievable life. Gallery “Living Walls”, Mönchengladbach
2015: “50 Years of Political Posters” VHS Foyer Bertolt-Brecht-Haus Oberhausen

Prices

Folkwang performance award 1960 in graphics
Badge of Honor of the City of Oberhausen 2015

literature

Walter Kurowski: KURO, Cologne 1978, ISBN 3-88268-003-2
Walter Kurowski: Walter Kurowski, in: Fecht, Thomas (Ed.): Political cartoon in the FRG, Hamburg 1974, pp. 41–69, ISBN 3-49925-059-4

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Kurowski, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	KURO
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German artist, caricaturist and jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH	August 20, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Essen (Germany)
DATE OF DEATH	18th October 2017
Place of death	Oberhausen