Skip to main content
Artists

Günther Uecker

b. Wendorf, Germany, 1930

German artist Günther Uecker creates works that elevate everyday materials through implausible and surprisingly poetic arrangements. Bewegtes Feld (Animated Field), 1963, in Glenstone’s collection, is a plain square canvas into which the artist has hammered hundreds of ordinary nails. The arrangement—painted entirely in white—becomes a dynamic, tactile object with a depth of presence that far surpasses the sum of its parts. Light bounces across the three-dimensional surface, brightening the sparsely populated edges, while shadows deepen areas more densely packed with nails. Uecker aligns his approach to working the canvas with that of a farmer working the soil—the reference to the canvas as a “Field” in the title is intentional—and he works on his pieces mainly from the floor, as opposed to an easel or wall.

–From the Glenstone Field Guide

Artworks by Günther Uecker