GÜNTER WESELER

Günter Weseler was born in Allenstein, Poland, on March 2, 1930. After obtaining a Diploma in Architecture, starting in 1958 he worked as a self-taught painter and sculptor. In 1960 he presented his first solo show at the Utermann Gallery in Dortmund, Germany.

In 1964 he created the first Atemmusiken (Musiche di Respiro), starting a series of works based on the phenomenon of breath converted into music. Due to a throat disease that makes it difficult for him to breathe, Weseler in his works elevates the breath to an artistic element, expressing an almost neurotic sensitivity towards it. Convinced that it is possible to artificially control all the body's organic processes through the use of chemicals and drugs, the artist experiments with them on himself with the aim of filling his imperfections at will. From these researches the Atemobjeckte (Breathing Objects) are born, created with furs and a mechanical machine that reproduces the movement and sound of breathing. At the end of the seventies, Weseler combines Atemobjekt with mirrors, creating his Spiegelobjekte: the hemispherical breathing object becomes a whole sphere by means of the mirror. In the eighties his work is characterized by the spiritual element and draws on the rituals and figures of the Mandala, magical ritual circles symbols of unity.

Between 1989 and 1993 he was a guest as Professor at the Hochschule in Hamburg. The first Moosobjekt (Objects with Moss) and Mirror-Objects in which the concrete and virtual element interact, date back to the nineties. The works of Günter Weseler are present in numerous museums and collections including: the Düsseldorf Museum of Art, the Bremen Kunsthalle, the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, the Atheneum Museum of Helsinki, the Bern Museum of Art and the Stuttgart Institute for International Relations. Tireless worker, his creations and his Atemobjekte accompanied him until his death, which took place on 26 September 2020 in Düsseldorf.

1930 was born in Allenstein, East Prussia
1945-53 graduated in North Frisia, attended for one year
Faculty of Agriculture and teaches Sound Technique
1953-58 he studied as an architect and graduated from the Technische
Hochschule of Braunschweig, completing his studies with several apprenticeships in
artists' atelier
1958 works as an independent painter and sculptor
1964 first Atemmusik (first performance Das Neue Werk, The new opera,
on Bremen radio)
Since 1966 he has made Atem- e Thatbjekte (The New Species)
1967 Aktionsatemmusik for a participating audience
1968 "breathing" theatrical space, Geschichte von einem Feuer, Story of a Fire, a
Kiel / Münste
1970 Atemwand, Breathing Wall, 10 x 3 m in Herten / Westphalia
1971 Theatrical object for Hysteria, Paradies schwarz, Hysteria, black paradise, a
Wellerhof / Schönbach Opernhaus in Cologne
1972 Ungeheuer von Loch Kettwig, Loch Kettwig Monster, free sculpture that
breathe, Essen-Kettwig
1975/76 Dreamer of decadence, environment with lions
1983 Gezeitensee, Lake with tides
Since 1984 you have been working with Mandala rituals and figures
1989/93 Guest as Professor at the Hamburg Hochschule
Since 1990 Moosobjekt, objects with moss (Parts of landscapes)
Since 1993 Mirror Objects (concrete and virtual)
Since 1998 I have been studying books on "Spiritual art"
2020 dies in Düsseldorf

1960 Utermann Gallery, Dortmund
1961 Appel Gallery, Frankfurt
1962 Am Bohlweg Gallery, Braunschweig
1966 Museum (evening exhibition), Düsseldorf
1967 Hannover, Munich Kunstverein, Thomas Essen Gallery, Haus Ruhnau
1968 Intermediate art gallery, Cologne; Gunar Gallery, Düsseldorf
1969 Environment at Morsboroich Castle, Leverkusen, Räume, Spaces,
Lamp; Environment Düsseldorfer Szene, Düsseldorf Scene, Cologne;
Environment at Thomas Gallery, Munich
1970 Environment at the Kunstverein in Göttingen; Environment Strategy: get
arts at the Art Colleger in Edinburgh; Ivan Spence Gallery in Ibiza
1971 Eat art gallery, Düsseldorf
1972 Magers Gallery, Bonn; Environment Szene Reihn-Ruhr, Essen; Environment
Kunstszene Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf art scene, Museum Ateneum, Helsinki
1973 Environment Kunstszene Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf art scene, Turku
1974 Environment at the Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal; Kunstverein for
Rheinlande and Westphalia, Düsseldorf; Municipal Museum, Wiesbaden
1975 The Electric Gallery, Toronto; St. Johann Gallery, Saarbrücken; Environment
Nye bella center, Copenhagen
1977 Hennemann Gallery, Bonn; Rottweil Kunst Forum, Rottweil
1978 Brinkmann Gallery, Amsterdam; The Electric Gallery, Toronto; Environment
with lions at the Nationalgalerie, Berlin
1979 Lang Gallery, Vienna; Environment at York University Gallery, Toronto
1980 Lüpke & Schönbrunn Gallery, Frankfurt
1981 Galleria Regio, Freiburg / March; Environment Phönix, Alte Oper of Frankfurt
1983 Draier Verlag of Frankfurt / Friedberg; Wünsche Gallery, Bonn
1986 Kunstverein, Siegen
1987 Redmann Gallery, Berlin
1988 Hühnermann Gallery, Düsseldorf
1990 Kunstverein II, Lübeck
1991 Hühnermann Gallery, Düsseldorf; Svetec Gallery, Düsseldorf
1992 Environment Mit Haut und Haaren, With skin and hair, Kunsthalle
Düsseldorf; Environment at Deutscher Künstlerbund in Aachen
1993 Environment, Art Multiple, Düsseldorf
1999 Slutzky Gallery, Frankfurt; Environment at Hygiene Museum, Dresden
2001 Kornelimünster ex Reichsabtei, Aachen
2013 Sisyphos, Diehl Cube, Berlin
2014 The New Species, Cosar HMT Gallery, Düsseldorf
2014 Breathing Objects - The new Species, Allegra Ravizza Gallery, Lugano
2020 Breathing Objects, Allegra Ravizza Gallery, Lugano

1967 Spring Exhibition, Hannover; Thomas Gallery, Munich; Tunnel
Müller, Stuttgart
1968 Museum of Art, Philadelphia; University of Wisconsin; La Jolla Art Center,
California; Science Fiction, Kunstverein of Düsseldorf; Kinetic Art, Casa sul
Waldsee, Berlin; Geschichter von einem Feuer, Story of a Fire, Kiel
1969 Intermediate 69, Heidelberg; Union of German Artists, Hanover
1970 Künste in Deutschland heute, Arts in Germany today, Cologne Kunsthalle;
Strassenkunst, Street art (S), Hannover; New multiple art, Whitechapel Gallery,
London
1971 Die Puppe, The Doll, House on the Waldsee, Berlin; Morsboroich Castle,
Leverkusen; Kunstverein of Frankfurt; Multiple, the first decade, Museum of Art,
Philadelphia; Eat art Gallery (S), Düsseldorf; Eat art, Aktiongalerie, Bern; Tunnel
Leone, Venice; Multimedia Hysteria (A), Opernhaus of Cologne;
1972 Olympiade, Spielstrasse (S), Munich; Multiples, Kunsthalle di Recklinghausen
1973 German Art Exhibition, Munich; Belgrade Museum; Multiples, Museum of
Rijeka; Zagreb Museum; Opernhaus of Warschau; The power gallery of
Contemporary Art, Sydney
1974 Poesie des Materials, The Poetry of Material, National Museum, Dublin;
Warschau Museum; Krakow Museum; The Electric Gallery, Toronto; Tunnel
Espace 5, Montreal; Rodman Hall Arts Center; St. Catharines, Ontario
1975 York University Art Gallery, Toronto; RealismShow at The Art Gallery of
Ontario, Toronto; Rotterdam, Rotterdamse; Kunststichting; The Woodstock Art
Gallery in Woodstock, Ontario; Ars Studio, Copenhagen
1976 The Museum of Electricity in Life, Minneapolis, USA; The Gairloch Gallery,
Oakville, Ontario; Art from Europe, The Electric Gallery, Toronto; Poetry through
material, Deutsches Institut of Lisbon
1977 Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
1978 The Nahan Gallery, New Orleans, USA; Association of German Artists,
Berlin; Wash Art '78, Washington D.C
1979 Soft Art at the Kunsthaus in Zurich; Art Museum des Geldes, Art Museum of
Aoldi, Kunsthalle of Düsseldorf; Art Museum des Geldes, Museum of Art of Money,
Center Pompidou, Paris
1980 Hommage a Kremser-Schmidt, Lang Gallery, Vienna; Liebe, Love,
Kunstverein, Darmstadt / Hannover
1981 Berlin Exhibition Center - 1989; Die nützlichen Künste, The Useful Arts,
Wiesbaden; Art Hats, Harlekin Art, Association of German Artists of Berlin,
Hannover / Frankfurt / Nuremberg.
1985 Kunst Stoff Kunst, Arte Materia Arte, Nordhorn Civic Gallery, Nordhorn
1989 Dunedin / Wellington, New Zealand
1990 Material - Poesie, The Poetry of Material, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten
Marl, Marl
1991 Metropolis, Gropius-Haus, Berlin
1992 '68 Kunst und Kultur, '68 Art and culture, Bauhaus, Marl / Dessau; Ars
symmetrica, Nationalgalerie of Budapest.
1994 Swiss Air, Aria Svizzera, Kunsthaus of Zurich
1995 Neuland, Redmann Gallery, Berlin; Eat art, Hünermann Gallery, Düsseldorf
1996 Maschienen, Machines, Schlüter Gallery, Hamburg
1997 Kunst und Architektur, Art and Architecture, Ruhnau Gallery, Essen; Torso,
Schlieper Gallery, Hagen
1998 EAT, Museum of contemporary art, Sydney; Tiere, Animals, Redmann Gallery,
Berlin; Kunst und Architektur, Werkbund of Bonn
1999 Aus dem Rahmen, Outside the Frame, Cranach Haus, Weimar; Das Kreuz, La
Cross, Harlekin Art, Wiesbaden
2009 Hautnah - Das Haar in der Kunst und Kultur, Villa Rot Museum,
Burgrieden-Rot; Eating the Universe - vom Essen in der Kunst, Kunsthalle di
Düsseldorf
2010 Eating the Universe - vom Essen in der Kunst, Taxispalais, Innsbruck; Tunnel
St. Johann, Saarbrücken / Schaulager, Lagerschau; "... Above realism", Cosar HMT,
Düsseldorf
2011 ENTROPIA, Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf
2012 Die Grosse Kunstausstellung NRW, Museum of the Palace of Art, Düsseldorf; TO
Cosmos, Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid; Bios - Konzepte des Lebens in der
zeitgenössischen Skultur, Bios - Concepts of Life in Contemporary Sculpture,
George Golbe Museum, Berlin; A Cosmos, The New Museum, New York; Concrete:
The small Format, St. Johann Gallery, Saarbrücken
2013 A Cosmos, Serpentine Gallery, London; Die grosse Kunstausstellung NRW,
Museum of the Palace of Art, Düsseldorf; Werke aus Sammlung von Rik Reinking,
Works from the Rik Reinking Collection, Delmenhorst Civic Gallery,
Delmenhorst; Fly me to the Moon, 55. Venice Biennale; Eine Handvoll Erde aus
dem Paradies, A Fistful of Earth from Heaven, Morsbroich Museum, Leverkusen;
Ruhestörung - Streifzüge durch die Welt der Kollagen, Pacific Disorder - Review
Through the World of Collagen, Ahlen Art Museum
2014 Kunst aus NRW, ex Reichabtei Kornelimünster, Aachen; Backdoor
Fantasies, the Düsseldorf Quadrennial; K10, Space for Art, Lugano

Collection of the city of Wolfsburg, Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Städtisches Museum Schloss Morsbroich, Leverkusen
City of Recklinghausen
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
Ministerium für Schule und Bildung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (MSB NRW),
Düsseldorf
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Kunsthalle, Bremen
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Institute for International Relations, Stuttgart Art Forum, Rottweil
Municipal Museum, Wiesbaden
Government, Bonn
Cantonal Museum, Lausanne
Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
Center d’Art, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Cultural Property of the Saar, Saarbrücken Museum of Art, Bern
Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal
Rheingold Collection in the Dyk Castle, Jüchen

1969 television program with Gerd Winkler; NDR / WDR television program
Environments with Gottfried Sello, Morsbroich Castle, Leverkusen.
1970 BBC, television program with Derrik Knight, Edinburgh and Düsseldorf
1972 Finnish television, Helsinki
1974 WDR - television program with Neufert; television program with W.
Rauene ZDF Weseler atmende Welt; Günter Weseler television program with Dr.
Marlene Franz
1987 Deutsche Welle, television program with R. Schlicht.
2010 DVD Günter Weseler - Atmende Wesen by Ralph Goertz and Werner Raeune,
Institute for Artistic and Scenographic Documentation - copyright IKS 2010.a

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