Jo Niemeyer
Encyclopedia
Jo Niemeyer is a concrete artist and designer. Niemeyer's work is based on the observation of the nature through the use of mathematic and, especially, the "Golden Section". He experimented with various media such as photography and film video. Today, he principally uses painting to compose his graphic works. Niemeyer also realized sculptural objects and big scale project such as the land art "20 steps around the world".
After three years of studying Photography and Graphic Art, Niemeyer executed his first geometrical painting in 1966. He travelled in several countries such as the United States, Canada and Scandinavia where he was particularly seduced by the nature. In 1967, he pursued his training in industrial design at the Finnish Institute for Art "Atheneum". He decided in 1970 to quit his job as professional photographer to became a full time independent artist.
In Finland, he met colleague artists Lars-Gunnar Nordstrom and Matti Kujasalo- the former director of the Finnish Academy of Art in Helsinki. In the 80s, Kujasalo asked Niemeyer to lecture about the different print technics in the graphic art département. During this time, Niemeyer built up his knowledges about Finnish architecture. It is also in Helsinki in the late 60s that Niemeyer met his wife Tuula Partanen. She founded in 1972 the edition Partanen which specialised in silkscreen print and publication of graphic and art portfolios, the studio was established in South Germany with a showroom in Zurich (Switzerland). The Edition Partanen collaborated with artists such as Rupprecht Geiger, Matti Kujasalo, Ilya Bolotowsky and Niemeyer himself.
Niemeyer began to elaborate his big scale project "20 steps around the world" which will be installed in 1997 in the City of Ropinsalmi in Finland. In this project, he expained for instance the earth replaces the canvas. According to him, our blue planet is the carrier of his artistic work being integrated into the creative process only by minimal changes. In the context of this work an arbitrarily defined route around the earth is divided systematically and exactly into 20 segments which develop to a dynamic, logarithmic progression according to the 'Golden Section'. The 20 steps are being visualized by using an installation of 20 stainless-steel elements around the globe, precisely located on continents and countries. The location of the points is achieved by using the computer and satellite navigation.
Over the years, Niemeyer has held successful one-man and group shows in Scandinavia, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, USA, England, Japan, Argentina, and Finland. His murals in public buildings can be found in countries all around the world including Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia. Featured in numerous international publications and films, his works can be found in public and private collections and museums throughout the world including in Japan, Germany, Canada, Holland, Finland, Germany and Austria. Today, Jo Niemeyer works and lives in Germany, France and Finland.
Niemeyer's interest in photography came from a fortunate encounter with the photograph Otto Steinert who was the former director of the Saarbrücken School where Niemeyer's mother used to work. The young Niemeyer was amazed by the development process of the photographic picture and chose to be trained as a photographer. Thanks to photography, Niemeyer realized that that are many ways to see things and this medium is his first creative expression. He experimented various technics of this medium and specialized in architectural photography.
Niemeyer was interested in changeability of structure in photography, and the step forwards the free creation of such structure was a logical and natural one. Painting allows him to do so: creating a free composition of a picture.
From science (the study of the Nature) to concrete art
The essential element in Niemeyer's work is Nature. Since his childhood days, he has loved skiing passionately and spend a considerable amount of time in the mountains. The images of snow, clouds and light-situations gave him the envy to study structure, space, movement and time.
In his work, Niemeyer makes a connection between art and nature, between the artistic action and the experimental work. His artistic production which is fundamentally based on natural principals and measures is nothing more than a sequence of experimental steps which implies given and objective criteria and subjective factors in the same way.
On the one hand his work is based on events in nature and civilization as well as on communication with his colleagues of other disciplines. According to Niemeyer, the dual pole nature - art is not only the basis of his experience but at the time also his central theme. His main interest is directed to the perception of space, time, distances and proportion and forms the synthesis between art and nature which implies in the end a dialogue between man and nature. He mainly understands land-art as a kind of laboratory, a ground for experiments for aesthetic-artistic, political and ecological syntheses.
Biography
Jo Niemeyer was born in 1946 in the German village Alf. He comes from a long tradition of an artist family. His mother was a textile designer and worked in Saabrücken at the former State School for Art and Crafts, where she was in charge of a handloom weaving factory. His father start to paint relatively early in his life, in abstract and concrete art. Unfortunately, his paintings were considered to be degenerate and most of his works were destroyed or lost during WWII.After three years of studying Photography and Graphic Art, Niemeyer executed his first geometrical painting in 1966. He travelled in several countries such as the United States, Canada and Scandinavia where he was particularly seduced by the nature. In 1967, he pursued his training in industrial design at the Finnish Institute for Art "Atheneum". He decided in 1970 to quit his job as professional photographer to became a full time independent artist.
In Finland, he met colleague artists Lars-Gunnar Nordstrom and Matti Kujasalo- the former director of the Finnish Academy of Art in Helsinki. In the 80s, Kujasalo asked Niemeyer to lecture about the different print technics in the graphic art département. During this time, Niemeyer built up his knowledges about Finnish architecture. It is also in Helsinki in the late 60s that Niemeyer met his wife Tuula Partanen. She founded in 1972 the edition Partanen which specialised in silkscreen print and publication of graphic and art portfolios, the studio was established in South Germany with a showroom in Zurich (Switzerland). The Edition Partanen collaborated with artists such as Rupprecht Geiger, Matti Kujasalo, Ilya Bolotowsky and Niemeyer himself.
Niemeyer began to elaborate his big scale project "20 steps around the world" which will be installed in 1997 in the City of Ropinsalmi in Finland. In this project, he expained for instance the earth replaces the canvas. According to him, our blue planet is the carrier of his artistic work being integrated into the creative process only by minimal changes. In the context of this work an arbitrarily defined route around the earth is divided systematically and exactly into 20 segments which develop to a dynamic, logarithmic progression according to the 'Golden Section'. The 20 steps are being visualized by using an installation of 20 stainless-steel elements around the globe, precisely located on continents and countries. The location of the points is achieved by using the computer and satellite navigation.
Over the years, Niemeyer has held successful one-man and group shows in Scandinavia, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, USA, England, Japan, Argentina, and Finland. His murals in public buildings can be found in countries all around the world including Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia. Featured in numerous international publications and films, his works can be found in public and private collections and museums throughout the world including in Japan, Germany, Canada, Holland, Finland, Germany and Austria. Today, Jo Niemeyer works and lives in Germany, France and Finland.
Work
From photography to paintingNiemeyer's interest in photography came from a fortunate encounter with the photograph Otto Steinert who was the former director of the Saarbrücken School where Niemeyer's mother used to work. The young Niemeyer was amazed by the development process of the photographic picture and chose to be trained as a photographer. Thanks to photography, Niemeyer realized that that are many ways to see things and this medium is his first creative expression. He experimented various technics of this medium and specialized in architectural photography.
Niemeyer was interested in changeability of structure in photography, and the step forwards the free creation of such structure was a logical and natural one. Painting allows him to do so: creating a free composition of a picture.
From science (the study of the Nature) to concrete art
The essential element in Niemeyer's work is Nature. Since his childhood days, he has loved skiing passionately and spend a considerable amount of time in the mountains. The images of snow, clouds and light-situations gave him the envy to study structure, space, movement and time.
In his work, Niemeyer makes a connection between art and nature, between the artistic action and the experimental work. His artistic production which is fundamentally based on natural principals and measures is nothing more than a sequence of experimental steps which implies given and objective criteria and subjective factors in the same way.
On the one hand his work is based on events in nature and civilization as well as on communication with his colleagues of other disciplines. According to Niemeyer, the dual pole nature - art is not only the basis of his experience but at the time also his central theme. His main interest is directed to the perception of space, time, distances and proportion and forms the synthesis between art and nature which implies in the end a dialogue between man and nature. He mainly understands land-art as a kind of laboratory, a ground for experiments for aesthetic-artistic, political and ecological syntheses.
Literature
- Matthias Diets: Lights, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993
- Bernhard Holeczek: Von zwei Quadraten, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, 1987
- Dietmar Guderian: Mathematik in der Kunst der letzten 30 Jahre, Ebringen/Br. 1990.
- Alvar Aalto Museum: Graphica Creativa, Jyväskylä, 1990
- Kurt Naef: Der Spielzeugmacher / The Toymaker, Basel, 2006
- Arthur Ruegg: Schweizer Möbel und Interieurs im 20. Jahrhundert, Birkhäuser, 2002
Important Shows
- 2009 Jo Niemeyer im ArithmeumArithmeumThe Arithmeum is a mathematics museum owned by the Forschungsinstitut für Diskrete Mathematik at the University of Bonn....
Bonn - 2008 „Pure Abstract Art" Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort/Niederlande.
- 2008 "Hommage à Vordemberge-Gildewart", Kunsthalle Osnabrück.
- 2005 „Experiment konkret 2005" Museum für konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt.
- 2004 „konkrete Kunst aus Baden-Württemberg" Warschau.
Museums (selection)
- Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
(MoMA), New York - Pinakothek der ModernePinakothek der ModerneThe Pinakothek der Moderne is a modern art museum, situated in the city centre of Munich, Germany. Together with its two predecessors Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek The Pinakothek der Moderne (= "(Art) Gallery of the Modern"; from Greek: "pinax" = "board", "tablet") is a modern art museum,...
, München - Universität Tel Aviv, Museum Pecs (Ungarn)
- Forum konkrete Kunst (Erfurt)
- Bauhaus Archiv (Berlin)
- Museum für konkrete Kunst (Ingolstadt)
- Stiftung für konkrete Kunst (Reutlingen)
- Museum Ushiroyama (Higashiawakura, Japan)
- Finnish National Gallery (Helsinki)
- Mondriaanhuis (Amersfoort/Niederlande)
- Nickle Arts Museum - University of Calgary
- Institut für konkrete Kunst (Rehau)