Werner Nydegger

Werner Nydegger (2013)

Werner Nydegger ( [ˈniˌdɛkər] ; born November 18, 1945 in Zurich ) is a Swiss cartoonist , graphic artist , illustrator , painter , restorer , sculptor, designer and author . However, he does not identify with the term "artist", he sees himself much more as an "art worker" who wants to get to know and perfect as many techniques and materials as possible, which explains his versatility.

Life

Werner Nydegger has lived in Olten since 1950 , where he still works today.

He received his first assignments during his five-year training in the graphics class at the Basel School of Applied Arts . After military service and a short language stay in England , Werner Nydegger opened his studio for graphics, advertising, PR and product design in Olten at the age of 23. He soon shifted his focus to illustrations , cartoons and caricatures which he followed intensively for 35 years.

As an autodidact , he acquired technical knowledge from various professions, which he used to work creatively with it. This is how many art objects, drawings, pictures, furniture and everyday objects were created. As an admirer of good handicrafts and a collector of antiques , he found motivation and inspiration not only in cross-cultural antique objects, but also in what he saw as the perfect design from the world of plants and animals. Studio and living space formed a unit his whole life and so for him there is no boundary between his private and professional life, neither spatially nor temporally.

job

Graphics, advertising, design

In the early days of his professional independence, Werner Nydegger realized numerous company and product brochures, planned and designed exhibition stands, posters, advertisements and corporate identities for companies. At the customer's request, he also began to focus on industrial and product design and made sketches and models for baby carriages, overhead cranes, fire engines and casings for compressors. The first order for a hidden object picture for a Swiss insurance company fell during this period.

He designed around 30 cinema posters for Franz Bachmann's Openair Kino Luna AG as well as LP covers and concert posters for Swiss Musictour . a. for Billy Cobham , Gianna Nannini , Konstantin Wecker and Abdullah Ibrahim .

Cartoons, caricatures, illustrations

Between 1969 and 2004 around 2000 cartoons, caricatures and illustrations were created. Weltwoche published his first cartoon in 1971 and in the following 35 years his drawings appeared in many newspapers and magazines at home and abroad such as Weltwoche, Bilanz, Schweizer Illustrierte , Stern , Der Spiegel and Playboy . His work has been published in over 21 countries through the two agencies Bulls Press in Sweden and Camera Press in London . In addition, over 70 elaborate hidden objects (70 × 50 cm) were created, which came on the market in the form of posters and sometimes also as puzzles.

He first published some of the drawings published by then in 1978 in his cartoon book Auslese , which became a bestseller.

In cooperation with Peter Baumann, LNN Magazin and Zeit Magazin published full-page stories on world history, which in turn resulted in two books in 1979 and 1980: The Latest from Yesterday, A Comical of World History by Werner Nydegger and Peter Baumann, Volumes 1 and 2.

Another cartoon book, “Sorry”, was published in 1981 and the book “Nice to see you” in 1985 with the best cartoons from the first book, “Auslese”.

In the same year the book Phantasia was created in collaboration with the Swiss journalist, copywriter and filmmaker Pino Aschwanden.

Three-dimensional cartoons

Werner Nydegger started in 1996 to present his ideas for caricatures in three dimensions. He used a wide variety of materials such as metal, wood, plaster, fabric and plastics to implement his cartoon ideas in a new form. A multitude of smaller objects and life-size caricature figures were created.

Portraits

In the years 1971 to 1973 portraits and caricatures of various musicians were created for the music magazine Music Scene, among others . He drew musicians like Frank Zappa , Klaus Doldinger , Jan Hammer , Pink Floyd and Donovan before the concerts in their cloakrooms or at dinner.

Furniture, lights, interior design

From 1997 Werner Nydegger began to combine individual elements of his three-dimensional cartoons with pieces of furniture. From then on he devoted himself to furniture design and designed and realized numerous chairs, stools, tables, cupboards, sideboards and light sculptures. In 2003 he received the order for the interior design and complete furnishing of a larger building complex with an apartment, open-plan offices, exhibition rooms, bar and home cinema. A unit was created in which every piece of furniture up to the door plates and door handles was made from his sketches and plans.

From 2004 he renovated a dilapidated carpenter's workshop in Olten, which he transformed into a studio and residential building with exhibition rooms in which he still lives and works.

photos

While painting, Nydegger tried out and developed many techniques. Its typical lines are always clearly recognizable. Oil and acrylic paintings as well as watercolors, drawings, colored pencils, airbrush paintings and works with various materials were created. After an intensive examination of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, the series Tuschspuren ( ink drawings on Japanese paper ) was created. The commission for a poster design for the Olten Dance Days resulted in an extensive series of pictures Dance-Art after an intensive examination of the topic of "dance" .

Sculptures, large sculptures, building art

Werner Nydegger created many small to medium-sized sculptures out of plaster of paris and fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin .

A first large sculpture made of steel in 2002 was followed by several installations in public space. For the textile company Heimbach Switzerland AG (then Munzinger AG) in Olten, Nydegger designed a meandering ribbon that apparently winds endlessly over the facade of the building complex, disappears in one part of the building, reappears in another place and winds like a wave over the flat roof. The tape looks like it was cut from soft felt, but is made of glass fiber reinforced polyester.

Other works of art in public space are the large sculpture Aare Fortress Tunnel in Bahnhofstrasse in Aarburg (2007, chrome steel) and the stainless steel logo sculpture 4f for the Feintool headquarters in Lyss (2009). Another large sculpture Lyss Monopoli ( Monopoli : sister city of Lyss) was inaugurated on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the city of Lyss and the 50th anniversary of the Feintool company (now Feintool International Holding AG) in August 2009 at Lyss train station .

In 2013 a companion and one of his most important clients died. Nydegger created a grave sculpture which can be seen in the Twann cemetery .

In 2015 he began one of his older sculptures, The Head: Thinking means questioning as a large-scale sculpture. A 6.2 m tall sculpture made of aluminum, steel and glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin was created which can be seen either in front of his studio or at larger exhibitions.

Prize sculptures

After Werner Nydegger designed the Cornichon Cabaret Prize in 1992 for Hanns Dieter Hüsch and in 2009 for Urban Priol on behalf of the Olten Cabaret Days , he received the order for a permanent prize sculpture, which will be presented to the annual prize winners from 2009 onwards.

Werner Nydegger also designed the spring spring award for young talent . In 2017 the Quai Cornichon was built in Olten for the Olten Festival. It is a blackboard wall, which presents all previous winners since the establishment of the Cabaret Prize in 1988. Werner Nydegger drew and planned the blackboard wall as well as made a profile picture of each award winner and lasered it into a chrome steel board. A new plaque of the award winner is unveiled every year.

Clothing / jewelry

Werner Nydegger designed a clothing collection . Above all, his clothing should be functional and comfortable, should be suitable for work as well as for festive occasions and must be combinable. His clothing is made of durable, easy-care and aesthetic fabrics and is characterized by simplicity and a uniform cut. There are no zippers, buttons or unnecessary decorations on it.

Although Werner Nydegger never attached importance to jewelry, he designed and manufactured various pieces of jewelry in his career out of an interest in craftsmanship and materials.

Small objects

Nydegger used many craft techniques to change existing objects or to create new ones. In addition, his perfectionism drove him to improve existing objects in form and function. In the course of the years, many objects were created from a wide variety of materials, utensils and art objects in one, such as vases, bowls, plates, knife rests, boxes, candlesticks, shelf supports, door handles, etc.

These objects hardly ever went on sale and were never created with the aim of mass marketing them. He is mainly interested in learning new things, realizing ideas and perfecting his skills.

photography

Werner Nydegger created an extensive photographic work. Werner Nydegger's handwriting can be recognized in his sculptures, furniture, lights and also in his cartoons and drawings and is shown in the recurring, elegant and yet tense shapes and lines.

style

Werner Nydegger works in many different areas and is therefore difficult to classify. However, his signature can be recognized by his recurring, elegant and yet tense shapes and lines in his sculptures, furniture, lights and cartoons.

Books

In 2014 Werner Nydegger began to literarily depict absurd social situations and stories which so far mostly served as inspiration for his cartoons. This resulted in around fifty short stories and a 250-page satirical novel Life or Beyond .

Publicly accessible works

• Magden , Restaurant Pöstli: Fountain sculpture St. Magdalena (1989)
• Oftringen, signpost intersection: Kreiselplastik (Chromstahl, 2002)
• Olten, Heimbach Schweiz AG, Art in Building Felt Sheets (Polyester, 2005)
• Aarburg , Bahnhofplatz: Aare fortress tunnel (chrome steel, 2007)
• Lyss, Feintool headquarters: large sculpture Feintool 4F (chromium steel, 2009)
• Lyss, Monopoliplatz: large sculpture Lyss-Monopoly (chromium steel, 2009)
• Olten, Aarequai Quai Cornichon , portrait panels of all previous winners of the Prix Cornichon (since 2012)
• Olten, Ringstrasse: large Cornish sculpture exhibited during the cabaret days . (2013)
• Olten, Seidenhofweg: Large sculpture The Thinker - Thinking means questioning (2017)

Prices

• 1978 Work Prize from the Canton of Solothurn
• 2013 Art Prize of the City of Olten

Publications

• Choice. Cartoons and caricatures , With a foreword by Peter Baumann, Edition C 1978, ISBN 3-85591-010-3
• Werner Nydegger and Peter Baumann, The latest from yesterday. A comical of world history , Edition C 1980, ISBN 3-85591-021-9
• Werner Nydegger and Peter Baumann, The latest from yesterday. Volume 2 , Edition C 1980, ISBN 3-85591-002-2
• Nice to see you , Lappan 1985, ISBN 3-85591-025-1
• Sorry , With a foreword by Gabriel Laub, Edition C 1987, ISBN 3-85591-009-X
• Werner Nydegger and Pino Aschwanden, Phantasia , Edition C 1988, ISBN 3-85591-026-X

Web links

• Werner Nydegger's website
• Literature by and about Werner Nydegger in the catalog of the German National Library