Hidden 3, 2007

Painting made of kimono fabric, acrylic paint, nails, KIF on wood.

Mass: 100 x 80 x 6.50 cm

Günther Uecker is a German painter and object artist. He first became known for his nail paintings in relief; some of his artistic objects are now classified as kinetic art. Uecker studied painting in Wismar and Berlin-Weißensee from 1949 to 1953. In 1953 he left the GDR and continued his studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Otto Pankok from 1955 to 1957. During this time he created his first three-dimensional, white-painted reliefs made of nails, which get their special dynamic from the alignment of the nails and the interaction of light and shadow.

In 1961 Uecker became a member of the artist group ZERO founded by Heinz Mack and Otto Piene; he subsequently set up 'light salons' with them in several museums. Work trips in the 1970s and 1980s, to South America, Africa, Japan, Siberia, China, Iceland and Mongolia, still characterise his work today. In December 2008, Uecker co-founded the Zero Foundation, which aims to preserve and promote the ZERO movement. Uecker lives and works in Düsseldorf and St. Gallen.