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Contemporary Outsider Art
On the left: Heinz Lauener Portrait, 2015 - © Mario Del Curto. On the right: © Sophie Brunner, is about two sculptures of Heinz Lauener: Guitarist, 2012, Papier maché, H 45 cm; Accordeonist, 2015, Papier maché, H 31 cm.
The wood and papier-mâché sculptures of Bernese artist Heinz Lauener incorporate the contemporary Swiss Outsider Art landscape. The fruits of his passionate relentless work convey his views on the society and city in which he lives. His sculptures retain the freshness of Swiss popular art while replacing the rural stereotype with a colourful gallery of characters, architecture and urban furniture.
When visiting his studio, one is dazzled by the profusion of figures, buildings, aircraft and boats lined up in an orderly fashion on multiple cupboard shelves and swarming out to overtake the hallway. In search of a fil rouge that could link these characters and things, Heinz takes us on a disjointed narrative that leaves much to the imagination. First, he introduces us to a sculpture of a celebrity straight out of the tabloids, then to an acquaintance whose identity he prefers to keep secret. He guides us through a maze of a set design; there are buildings with interior finished to the minutest of detail, catholic and orthodox churches, kiosks, circus capitals, advertising panels and scattered road signs. The artist alternates between large and small sculptures; the mix of scale randomly put next to one another only underlines the surrealism of this arrangement.
The story of Heinz Lauener is similar to other outsider artists of his generation: managing to overcome hardship and find a place in the...