EINLADUNG – VERNISSAGE ANDRÉ WILHELM AM

The Gallery CASA DEL ARTE is pleased to present works by ANDRÉ WILHELM

André Wilhelm stands out thanks to his multi-faceted personality, because he is an artist, painter and sculptor and furthermore a designer. The artist makes of politics, fashion and art an own creature, which is depicted in his paintings and collages. Wilhelm’s images therefore represent a daily life that radiate an intense energy, are emotional, unpolished and peppy. “Snoop Dog (g) ” is not the illustrious rapper here, but refers to the owner of a feeding bowl, next to the true wild brushed four-legged animal sitting preppy, preppy lifted in a frame, too preppy though and too conventionally for the painter. For the completion of the work he applies a pink sauce, which he runs over the frame of the picture above and which solidifies while flowing. Now the painting has gained power. As textile designer Wilhelm designs a wide range of creations for printed materials, this goes back to his contact with Gustav Zumsteg, the silk king of the last century.

 The artist works in Wald (ZH), where he has a factory floor, which serves to him to preserve a perfect overview over all his works. Wilhelm appreciates the freedom of the artist and lives it up gladly. Wilhelm is inspired by great artists such as Warhol, Bacon and Lichtenstein. The artist proves its self-irony by brushing a portrait of Picasso or labeling a still life with vase of flowers as “Vincent of Wilhelm”.

“He is an impetuous painter. His energy seems to be directed straight to the canvas. Expressive, raw, powerful. His painting, a real painting fury, feeds on social life, the daily state of the world so to speak. He «processes» politics and consumption, advertising and fashion, art and popular culture directly in a peculiar, distinctive visual language. The kind of “art brut” is quite brutal. But look out: Behind are hidden picturesque delicacies and a twinkle in his eye, which opens into the parody, and a look through, an analytical depth, which results exhilarating and revealing. André Wilhelm paints the daily world theater. And, “Grand Guignol” bursts with a presence on the scene, which seems inevitable and draws a flickering portrait of the western society. Rarely do indigestibility, ridicule and Border lines so well. ” − GUIDO MAGNAGUAGNO