Hansueli Urwyler: Fire and Ice
Maureen Dougherty, Jamie Dalglish and David Anderson
When viewing the
landscape paintings of Swiss artist Hansueli Urwyler, a spectacle of light and
elemental configurations make themselves present. In the painting Vision Schwefelschwaden
Mte. Vulcano (Sulfur Fumes of Mt. Volcano) one can imagine stepping off the rough
rocks and into the silver sea of flowing consciousness. A figure arising out
of flames is the dominant element accompanied by dolphins and birds that lift
one out of a sulfur volcanic void.
The artist’s
inspiration is the island of Liparische Inseln off the coast of Sicily. It is
covered with active volcanoes. The colors of Urwyler’s painting mimic the
topography. He depicts a setting sun with a lavender sea. The islands and sky
are both rendered celadon green.
Silberquell IV
[Grimselpass], or Silver Fountain, is a landscape painting that relies on various
color combinations and a displacement of the image as void. This composition
creates a mythological gestalt. In this painting, mountains become fiery faces
and dancing fiery tribal figures. Dissimilarly, in Silberfall II, the mountain
becomes a quiet moonlit metaphorical space.
Silberquell I depicts
a labyrinth in white and cobalt blue. The surface is demarcated by a glassy field
of thin ice at the bottom of the canvas. The environment changes with each step
down the surface of the mountain: permafrost, ice, frozen land and water.
Urwyler is also versed in watercolor. Somewhat remineiscent of Cezanne, his painting
Nacht in Athens II uses the colors blue and yellow to represent his nocturnal
travels in the tight spaces and city streets of Athens. The stars, night sky,
street signs, and lights from store fronts, windows, door ways create illumination
in addition to light from sources unknown.
The painting titled
Fever I or Fire-Fever screams with vibrant red, blue and yellow hues which depict
the life of Carl Fredrick Hill, the way in which he monumentalized earthly elements.
Air, earth, water and fire are the theosophical elements that create vehicles
for this artist to render his perceptions of the world.
Landscape permeates
the life and work of the Swiss artist. The context which most defines the artist
is depicted on the cover of a recent catalog. In a recent photograph of Hansueli
Urwyler, he is
shown, dreamlike, brush in hand, in a private vision that stretches hundreds
of miles off into the distance in his native Swiss Alps.
