Günther Uecker, co-fondatore del Gruppo Zero, muore a 95 anni

Günther Uecker, renowned German sculptor and painter, co-founded the avant-garde collective Gruppo Zero and passed away at 95 in Düsseldorf. His family, including wife Christine, son Jacob, and sister Rotraut Klein-Moquay, an artist and widow of Yves Klein, shared the news. Born on March 13, 1930, in Kuhlen-Wendorf, Mecklenburg, Uecker studied in Wismar and Berlin-Weissensee from 1949 to 1953 before discovering his artistic direction at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, moving away from figurative art. In 1957, he began using nails as a plastic element, creating monochromatic reliefs that interacted with light and shadow. He established Gruppo Zero in 1961 with Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, aiming for a fresh artistic direction post-war. His later works included dynamic installations and transformed everyday objects into sculptures, as well as theater designs for Fidelio (1974) and Parsifal (1976). In recent decades, he focused on relief prints and film projects. The Gruppo Zero also featured Yves Klein, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, and Piero Manzoni.