Werner Thiel

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Werner Thiel (born February 3, 1927 in Breslau ; † April 28, 2003 ) was a German artist who became known for working with relics from the Ruhr mining industry. He lived and worked in Gelsenkirchen and Herne .

Life

From 1949 to 1951 he worked as a miner on various mines in the Ruhr area . After the death of his first wife, he went back to East Germany in 1954. There he carried out various activities, was a paver, shunter, pest fighter and others. Finally, from 1954 to 1957, he studied five semesters at the University of Graphics and Book Art in Leipzig . He took part in demonstrations at the time of the Hungarian uprising . He was transferred to a VEB linoleum company, from where he took courses at the Naumburg Master School .

In 1960, he fled with his wife and four children in the Federal Republic , first to Warburg. There he initially worked as a gravestone restorer and prospectus distributor. From 1961 to 1992 Thiel was a conveyor operator at the Consolidation colliery in Gelsenkirchen. From 1965/66 he lived in Gelsenkirchen.

Werner Thiel and his wife Else last lived in a house on Bergmannsglückstrasse in Gelsenkirchen, on the site of the former Bergmannsglück colliery . There are efforts to make this house open to the public. Right next to Thiel's house is the house of the artist friend Alfred Schmidt . Not far from there is the " Forum Bergmannsglück ", an art gallery curated by Thiel.

plant

In Gelsenkirchen, Thiel began to be interested in the decline of the Ruhr mining industry and its relics. The aesthetics of decay became his main theme, to which he devoted himself in photographic works and graphic cycles, such as For example: "Phantasmagorias of Oppression" (1979) or "Hiroshima". From 1980 he began collecting artifacts from mining and industrial work on the disused mines in the Ruhr area . From this he created objects, collages and installations, the first in the artist mine Our Fritz in Herne, where he had a studio. Many of Werner Thiel's works play into the figurative, through the combination of different pieces faces and human relationships emerge.

From 1976 Werner Thiel was present in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. His work can be found in international museums, including the National Museum Sofia (Bulgaria), Old Hall Museum Kirkleatham (England), Bibliotheque Nationale Paris (France), Foundation Langwiesen Iron Library (Switzerland). In 1983/1984 he was awarded the diploma of the Federation of Photographers USUF (member of the World Council of Professional Photographers).

Exhibitions (selection)

Werner Thiel Collection

Northern machine house, 2013

Thiel did not live to see the opening of his largest installation in 2004 in the northern machine house of the former Consolidation colliery in Gelsenkirchen. The artist Helmut Bettenhausen from the Künstlerzeche Unser Fritz designed the installation in the spirit of Werner Thiel with the support of Lutz Kahnwald . Thiel's collection of mining relics is presented on two floors. Thousands of metal objects and tools, helmets and mountain boots, signs and various workpieces are shown here. The collection can be viewed on Saturdays and Sundays and also on public holidays.

literature

  • Jörg Loskill (ed.): Werner Thiel . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2004. ISBN 3-89861-370-4 .
  • City of Herne (Hrsg.): Werner Thiel: Drawings and photographs. Retrospective . Das Emschertal-Museum, Vol. 21, Verlag Emschertal-Museum, Herne, 1987, ISBN 3-922987-16-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Art installation, Werner Thiel Collection, in the city of Gelsenkirchen
  2. ^ Anne Bolsmann: Art Mile Bergmannsglück , WAZ February 20, 2008

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thiel, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artist
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 2003