Helmut Federle

born 1944 in Solothurn, Switzerland

lives and works in Vienna, Austria and Camaiore, Italy

To my mind, the notion that abstract art in all of its manifestations is a universally readable code is wrong. Rather, the interpretation of its manifestations reflects intentions that have sprung up regionally. I reject the notion of a unipolar value.”

read inGerman

1999–2007 Professor at the Academy of fine Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Helmut Federle studied at the School of Applied Arts in Basel 1964–1969. This was followed by stays abroad in Tunisia and the United States. Since then, he has continued to travel, visiting Japan, North Africa, and the US, among other places.

Since the 1970s, Helmut Federle has built up an oeuvre characterized by a geometric and painterly style that is inherently spiritual, emblematic, intellectual, and close to nature. His works combine constructive arrangements with painterly, otherworldly pictorial spaces that are not only associated with subjective perceptions, but also strive toward universality. His painterly compositions are expressions of a strong system of meaning and thus evade purely formal interpretation.

”Helmut Federle’s personal vision of geometric abstraction, which grows out of extensive familiarity with its history and programmatic objectives, can be experienced not only in the distinctive palette of his art; it is also reflected by the prominence of the artist’s grappling in his work with questions of creation and death. The bounds of human and animal life, the nascence, evolution and downfall of entire cultures, the self-endangerment of individuals and civilization alike, and life as fate are themes that recur throughout his oeuvre; they can be glimpsed in his drawings and overheard in the titles he chooses for his works.” (Roman Kurzmeyer)

He represented Switzerland at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997.

Selected solo exhibitions: Kunstmuseum Basel/Neubau (2019); Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon (2017); M–Arco, Marseille (2016); Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne (2012/2013); Fundación Bancaja, Valencia (2012); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes (2002); Kunsthaus Bregenz (1999); IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia (1998); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (1998); Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe (1998); Kunstmuseum Bonn (1995); Galerie national du Jeu de Paume, Paris (1995); Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich (1992); Moderna Museet Stockholm (1992); Friedericianum, Kassel (1992); Secession, Vienna (1991).

Selected museum and private collections: Tate Modern, London; Kunstmuseum Basel; Musée National d’art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne; Sammlung Goetz, Munich; Musée d’Art moderne de Paris; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez Collection, Miami; Sammlung Ludwig, Achen; Sammlung Gaby und Wilhelm Schürmann, Herzogenrath; Kunsthalle Nürnberg; Reina Sofia, Madrid; ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe; Fonds M–Arco, Marseille; Albertina, Vienna; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk.

Helmut Federle was awarded the Ricola Prize (2016) and the Prix Aurelie Nemours (2008).