Urs-P. Twellmann
P.O. Box 1056, CH-3110 Münsingen / Bern, Switzerland
Tel. ++41 (0)31 721 86 43
e-mail: info[at]twellmann.ch

Curriculum vitae

Born on April 5, 1959 in Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland
Lives and works in Munsingen/Bern, Switzerland

Artistical Educations
Academy of Arts, Berne, Switzerland
Art Students League, New York
Manhattan Graphic Center, New York

Professional Sculptor since 1981

One-man and group-shows since 1979

Exhibitions and invitations to international Sculpture-Symposiums in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Denmark, USA, South Korea, Czech Republic, South Africa and Switzerland.

Part-time art-teacher for the Open University and in the Educational Program for teachers from 1984 to 1999.

• Grants
• Membership
• Recidency Grants
• Selected Sculptures in Public Places
• Selected Exhibitions
• Selected Group Shows
• Selected OneManShows
• Artist Statement
• Interviews and Press
• Publications

• Canton of Berne (1985 / 1990 / 1994)
• City of Burgdorf (1985)
• Federal Society for Nature Protection (1985)
• City of Walkringen (1986)
• City of Lützelflüh (1986)
• Country of Emmental (1985 / 1994)
• City of Konolfingen (1986)
• Div. Service-Clubs (1991)
• Prix FEMS, Fondation E. & M. Sandoz (2001)
• Pro Helvetia (2002)

• VISARTE - Visual Arts Association, Switzerland - www.visarte.ch
• ISC - International Sculpture Center, USA - www.sculpture.org
• sculpture network e.V. - www.sculpture-network.org
• Pro Litteris - Swiss Copyright Clearing Center - www.prolitteris.ch
• I.A.A. UNESCO - Association Internationale des Arts Plastiques

• Kemmeriboden-Bad, CH-Schangnau (1990 und 1992)
• Kulturmühle, CH-Lützelflüh (1992/93)
• Sculpture-Park, Katzow, Germany (1998)
• Wolfsberg, Ermatingen, Switzerland (1999)
• Monarch Sculpture-Park, Tenino, USA (2000)
• Church Gallery, Perth, Australia (2001)
• Spier Art Trust, Capetown, Southafrica (2002)
• University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, USA (2005)
• Plattform China, Beijing. China (2006)

• Kunsthalle Wil, (CH)
• "Site Specific", Plettenberg Bay (South Africa)
• "Nord-Art", Kunst in der Carlshütte (D)
• Kulturarena Wittigkofen, Bern (CH)
• Station 8, Zuzwil (CH)
• Galerie für Gegenwartskunst Elfi Bohrer, Bonstetten (CH)
• "Kunstwaldraum", Burgdorf (CH)
• le Manoir, Martigny, (CH)
• Freitagsgalerie Imhof, Solothurn (CH)

• Kornhaus, Burgdorf (CH)
• Thalhaus-Galerie, Wiesbaden (D)
• Schloss Rue, "Wunderland", Rue (CH)
• Kunstsommer Wiesbaden, Nerotal-Park, Wiesbaden (D)
• Museum Pachen, Rockhausen (D)
• Kunst am Wasser, Bern (CH)
• Basler + Partner, Zollikon (CH)
• Centro Cultural, "La viejo estación principal", Catamarca (Argentina)

• 16 th INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE TRIENNIAL, POZNAN 2009 (Poland)
• "Organic Art Life" "Sarajevo Winter-Festival" Sarajevo, (Bosnien-Herzegowina)
• Royal Botanical Garden, Toronto (Canada)
• 4. Schweizerische Triennale der Skulptur in Bad Ragaz und Vaduz (CH und FL)
• Galerie REICHLIN, CH - 6403 Küssnacht am Rigi (CH)
• URBAN NOMAD, Taipei, (Taiwan)
• Galleria 44, Genova, (Italia)
• Museum am Burghof, Lörrach (D)
• IFAN Museum, Dakar, (Senegal)

• Bex & Arts, Sculpturen-Triennale, Bex (CH)
• Art en Paysage, Assens (CH)
• Bundesamt für Umwelt, Bern (CH)
• Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Elfi Bohrer, Bonstetten (CH)
• Geumgang Nature Art Biennale, (South Korea)

• Kunstraum Dornbirn (Austria)
• Môtiers 2007, Art en plein air, Môtiers (CH)
• Kunst Zürich (Galerie GGBohrer) (CH)
• Skulpturengalerie, Zürich (CH)
• Galerie Pesko, Lenzerheide, (CH)
• Galerie Ursula Huber, Besel (CH)
• "Passaggi", Gorizia (Italia)

• Galerie am Marktplatz, Büren a/Aare (CH)
• Holzkabinett Grunau, Sonderausstellung der IG Halle Kulturzentrum Alte Fabrik, CH - Rapperswil-Jona (CH)
• Schweizerische Triennale der Skulptur, Bad Ragaz (CH)
• Skulpturengalerie, Gebenstorf (CH)
• Skulpturen Münsingen 2006, Münsingen (CH)
• Skulptur '06, Skulpturenausstellung des Vereins Berner Galerien, Bern (CH)

• Open Sky - Caracas (Venezuela)
• University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point (USA)
• Schloss Kiesen, (CH)
• Bex & Arts, Skulpturen-Triennale, Bex, (CH)
• Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Elfi Bohrer, Bonstetten (CH)

• Art Chêne, L'espace Abraham Joly, HUG, Genf (CH)
• Galerie Meier, Arth (CH)
• Galerie Marie-Louise Wirth, Hochfelden/Zürich (CH)
• Kunst Zürich, (bei Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Elfi Bohrer) (CH)
• Arte Sella, Borgo Valsugana, TN, (I)
• Kunstfestival Magdeburg, (D)

• Skulpturenweg und Espace Culturel, Assens (CH)
• Sun 21, Basel (CH)
• City Hall, Parnu (Estonia)
• Elbauenpark, Magdeburg (D)
• Skulpturenlandschaft, Hamburg (D)

• Outdoor Sculpture Biennale, Spier, Capetown (Southafrica)
• Galerie Rehalp, Basler & Hofmann, Zürich (CH)
• Bex & Art, Skulpuren-Triennale, Bex (CH)
• Inorino Oka Kuso Gallery, Saito, Kyushu (Japan)
• International Biennale of Contemporary Art (Austria)
• Fondation E. & M. Sandoz, Lausanne-Pully (CH)

• SH-Holz, Schweizerische Hochschule für die Holzwirtschaft, Biel (Switzerland)
• Taechong-Lake, Nine Dragon Heads (Südkorea)
• Ligna (Weltmesse für Holz), Hannover (Germany)
• Buepa, Konzeptgalerie, Berlin (D)
• Atelier-Ausstellung, *Im Friedel* Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, (D)
• Churchgallery, Perth, Australia
• Kunstverein March (D)

• Bächtelen-Foundation, Wabern/Bern (Switzerland)
• Kunstverein Steffisburg, Steffisburg/Thun (Switzerland)
• Kloster Plasy (Tschechien)

• Grün 99, Weil am Rhein (Germany)
• Sculpture 99, Villa Mettlen, Muri/Bern (Switzerland)
• Ligna (Weltmesse für Holz), Hannover (Germany)
• Sculpture today, Gallery Marie-Louise Wirth, Hochfelden/Zürich (Switzerland)
• Wolfsberg, UBS Executive Development Centre, Ermatingen (Switzerland)

• Sculpture Trail Grauholz, Bern, (Switzerland)
• Sculpture Parc, Katzow (Germany)
• Kulturmühle, Lützelflüh (Switzerland)
• Sculture e installazioni, Omegna (Italy)
• Sculture today, Gallery Marie-Louise Wirth, Hochfelden/Zürich (Switzerland)
• House of Congress, Biel (Switzerland)

• Sculpture Trail, Lützelflüh (Switzerland)
• Rhein-Art 97, International Sculpture-Show, Widnau (Switzerland) - Lustenau (Austria)
• Na-tour, National Sculpture-Exhibition, Hitzkirch/Luzern (Switzerland)
• Museum of Art, Thun (Switzerland) (Nachschlag 97)

• Gallery Jolimont, Erlach (Switzerland)

• Transit Museum, New York

• Art Students League, New York

• Kulturmühle, Lützelflüh (Switzerland)

• Gallery Farb, Worb (Switzerland)

• Kulturmühle, Lützelflüh (Switzerland)

• Castle Hünigen, Konolfingen (Switzerland)

• Rüttihubelbad, Walkringen (Switzerland)

• Bewerogut, Riehen/Basel (Switzerland)

• Académie des Beaux Arts, Paris (France)
• Castle Hünigen, Konolfingen (Switzerland)
• Gallery Bertram, Burgdorf (Switzerland)

• Sculptures in Dählhölzli, Bern (Switzerland)

• Gallery Schlossberg, Burgdorf (Switzerland)

• Gallery Chrämerhus, Ruswil (Switzerland)

• Gallery Alte Krone, Biel (Switzerland)

• Gallery Engelhaus, Langnau i/E (Switzerland)

• Gallery im Winkel, Konolfingen (Switzerland)

Artist Statement

Perceiving, observing, discovering, researching, developing, expanding and transforming - are the key words explaining my practice.

My main focus lies on transforming. In this process - where destruction and creation become as one - materials are collected and analysed; they get bent, broken, split and cut to become new forms or are arranged in a different context.

The individual process can be long or short, free flowing or troublesome, can be hard physical work and lead through phases of chaos, disorientation and uncertainty - but it has to be a new challenge every time, resulting in expanding experiences and journeys of discovery.

While I am interested in all materials, it's wood in all its variations, conditions and forms I usually prefer to work with. There is no inferior wood, just different starting points and possibilities to research.

As the material itself shapes a process, so does each location with its topography, its character and particularities as well as atmosphere, available tools and working conditions.

Many interventions, installations and objects are site-specific, rarely seen by the public. Some only last moments. Visual documentation through photographs communicate the finished work on site and often the process as well.

An endless journey of discovery
The sculptor and artist Urs-P. Twellmann works with mature wood which he endows with new and surprising forms before returning it to nature. There is a very perceptible harmony between his work and the landscape.

Urs-P. Twellmann returned recently from an extended winter sojourn in the arctic cold of Siberia. It is deeply nurturing for him to experience the world in this way - in all its limitless size and scope - on journeys which have also included Canada, Australia, Africa and Japan. 'There I can rid myself of any feelings of limitation,' he says. In fact, Twellmann's objects widen one's vision and lead the observer into a world in which the art loses any artificiality and develops a harmony with the breadth of the landscape. Despite the enormous size of his objects, nothing is impertinent, showy or presumptuous, but blends in as though it is part of the plan of creation.

The fascination of the material
The key material for the artist is wood, largely in its basic, natural form. 'I am always fascinated by its growth and versatility,' he says, 'by its strong individuality and originality.' He is less successful in giving shape and meaning to stone and adds 'Wood invites me on an endless journey of discovery and research.' Because he can most easily enter the spirit of a tree, its essence, its stature and its structure, he adds, 'It is the material with which I feel the greatest affinity.'

Abstract in concrete
In Twellmann's sculptures the observer experiences nature re-worked artistically and nature appears magnified in surprising ways. 'Nature is perfect,' he says. 'I cannot improve on it. What is left to me is to change it, to put it into a new context and arrangement.' The familiar in unusual arrangement; here something unexpected happens, a surprise, an important feature of Twellmann's work. Despite that surprise, the observer has a clear, although fresh, impression of the still-natural, intrinsic shape of the wood. Abstraction, an important feature of Twellmann's art, is certainly involved here. Visible, for example, in the perfect formation of a sphere derived from tree segments, is the notion that all seek the exact centre of the sphere - a repeating motif. The inherent nature of the wood remains dominant, despite the abstraction, and it seems to speak and to permit formerly unseen interpretations. With regard to this the artist says, thoughtfully, that he is primarily interested in the creative process; the dialogue with the material, with the surroundings and with the tools. 'But,' he muses, 'there is also the conflict between chaos and order, between the chance and the principle. There should be room in my work for both.'

Transitoriness
Wood is transient in its natural surroundings. In ten to thirty years it decays. Twellmann does not use only wood, he also forms ice into symbols in the landscape in front of breathtaking mountain backdrops. Here the ephemeral nature of the object is particularly apparent. It seems as if decay is part of the artistic intention. 'A world without a past and death - wouldn't that be dreadful?' Because without past there is no future, no growth and no development, he says. But, he adds, smiling, although it is easy for him to accept the transitory nature of things, he is glad to have photographs of pieces of his work that have already disintegrated, or will do so in the very near future. So photography, the original tentative start to his career, still provides the documentary tool of the artist whose development encompassed photography, sketching and wood carving before he turned to sculpting. 'The limits would be unbearable if I worked only in the most durable woods or only for indoors.' For this reason the photograph has a very practical function.

The space
Wood and the landscape are the two aspects of the artistic space in which Twellmann moves. But it is also determined by another feature; the tools that he uses, in particular the chain saw. With this the artist, with mastery, brings into being his artistic will, whether the object is filigree or solid, transparent or sombre. Of course, he has also worked with hammer and chisel but only rarely these days. Apart from the sketching pencil, the most important instrument in the design stage today is the chain saw. 'It is the wood-carving tool par excellence, efficient and very versatile,' he says. 'For the observer it is perhaps gross and loud, but in reality one can work very delicately and precisely with it.' In the same way that it is important for him to constantly research the special characteristics of the different woods - which is why there are frequent internal views in the form of elaborately hollowed-out tree trunks - so he also constantly has to explore new possibilities of the tools he uses.

All over the world
Twellmann's sculptures can be found all over the world. When asked how a young sculptor has such international appeal, he replies 'Through invitations to symposiums and exhibitions'. He is also invited by galleries and sculpture parks to present his work and says 'Instead of sending a sculpture to another country, I prefer to do the work there.' Occasionally he is offered accommodation, a workplace and living expenses for a few weeks or months, but he also travels independently. For the last two years, the E.& M. Sandoz Foundation has awarded him a generous grant that has enabled him to work in Australia, South Africa and Japan. An ideal situation!

Urs-P. Twellmann was born in 1959 in Langnau in the Swiss Emmenthal. He attended the Higher School of Applied Arts in Bern, followed by the Art Students League and Manhattan Graphic Center in New York. Since 1979 he has had many individual and joint exhibitions here and abroad. He has worked as an independent sculptor since 1981, frequently being invited to international sculpture symposiums. Urs-P.Twellmann has won a number of prizes, grants and commissions for his artistic work. His studio is at Hintergasse 19, 3110 Munsingen, Switzerland. Tel: +41 31 721 86 43, info@twellmann.ch, www.twellmann.ch

Martin and Gundi Klemm for "The Pearls of Switzerland", Ed. 2003
www.pearls.ch

Urs-P. Twellmann
"Forstrevier 3"

2007 Kunstraum Dornbirn (Austria),
Dokumentation zur Ausstellung

ISBN 978-3-939738-67-1

Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg
Format A4, 32 Seiten,
22 farbige und 18 schwarz-weisse Abbildungen
Text und Interview (deutsch und englisch):
Nina Schedlmayer

Fr. 18.- / Euro 12.-

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Urs-P. Twellmann
"Have a seat please"
Observations at Beijing construction sites.

Installations and Interventions at Platform China
798Project Space,
Dashanzi Art District, Beijing

November / December 2006
ISBN 3-033-01146-2

19 x 21 cm, 60 Seiten,
67 Schwarz-Weisse und 2 farbige Abbildungen
Text: Elizabeth Parke (englisch / chinesisch)

CHF 18.- / Euro 12.-

Beijing is perhaps unlike any other city in the world, here chaos and order are evident in so many ways, so widespread and interwoven with such complexity. With this as his background environment, Urs-P. Twellmann has set about incorporating it into his new works.
Elizabeth Parke, Beijing

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Urs Twellmann
Journal de voyage
Prix Fems 2001 - 2002

Objects and interventions
in Australia, South Africa,
Japan and Switzerland

24 x 27 cm, 141 pages,
Paperback

159 illustrations in colour
16 illustrations in black/white

Texts: French and German

Urs-P. Twellmann (2005)
Arbeiten mit Holz
Installationen, Objekte und Interventionen
in der Natur

Bibliografie
Steffan Biffiger (Hrsg)
168 Seiten, gebunden
ISBN 3-7272-1101-6

Preis: Fr. 49.-- / Euro 32.40.--

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