Wil Frenken

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Wil Frenken (* 1935 in Kleve ) is a German action artist .

life and work

Wil Frenken was born in Kleve in 1935 and did an apprenticeship as an upholsterer in his father's company . He studied architecture and painting in Krefeld at the Niederrhein University and in Vienna at the Academy of Fine Arts. He moved to the Austrian Burgenland in 1960 . In 1980 he settled in Stuttgart to live and work there. From 1985 to 1991 he was co-editor of the avant-garde magazine Der Chlebnizist . For three years he had a teaching position at the University of Duisburg-Essen in the art department. He founded the Buch Julius bookstore and first moved to Todtmoos , then to Lower Saxony and finally back to the Lower Rhine in 2005, where he works and lives in Hamminkeln with his wife, Ingrid Frenken-Wolff .

Wil Frenken was married to Fria Elfen-Frenken . The artist couple initiated and managed the Breitenbrunn workshop together , where avant-garde items such as Fluxus , concrete art , visual poetry , experimental films, new music and computer art were produced, presented and discussed up until the 1980s .

Frenken was best known for his action art, the ART extensions and the ambient prints . Works by Frenken were shown at documenta 6 in Kassel .

His replica of a VW 1: 1, which was shown not only in various locations in Germany, but also at ART 1980 in New York, caused a particular sensation. Of his numerous actions, Burned Books-Banished Books is the best known. Texts by writers who were persecuted by the Nazis were read by his second wife, Susanne Frenken, blackened by Wil Frenken and, with the accompanying books, played an increasingly important role. This action took place with great success in various European countries.

Works

  • Schwarzbauer, Georg F: Wil Frenken. Notes on his woodcut series. Separatum from the magazine: old and modern art (Vienna: Österreichischer Bundesverlag) 86, May / June 1966, pp. 42–45. Vienna 1966
  • Wil Frenken. Ambient pressures. State gallery in Esterhazy Palace, Eisenstadt, 2.2. until 6.3. 1977. Published by the Burgenland Provincial Government
  • Wil Frenken: Love is Color - Color is Black, AIVerlag, Stuttgart 1981
  • Wil Frenken. Beyond the alphabets. Edited by Eva Maria Hanebutt-Benz Mainz: Gutenberg Museum 1992
  • Wil Frenken - homo ludens - for the artist's 70th birthday, Uelzen publisher

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catalog for documenta 6: Volume 3: hand drawings, utopian design, books; Kassel, page 312, 1977 ISBN 3-920453-00-X
  2. ^ ZVAB-Text: [1] accessed on October 29, 2015
  3. ^ NRZ, Petra Herzog: Wieder am Niederrhein , accessed on November 1, 2014.
  4. ^ Werkstatt Breitenbrunn 1967 to 1980 Werkstatt Breitenbrunn 1967 to 1980 An interface of the international avant-garde in Burgenland , accessed on November 1, 2014.
  5. ^ For the artist Wil Frenken on his 70th birthday, accessed on October 1, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Frenken, Wil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German action artist
DATE OF BIRTH 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Kleve