Markus Zürcher (February 24, 1946 in

Herisau Herisau is a municipality and the capital of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. It is the seat of the canton's government and parliament; the judicial authorities are situated in Trogen. The central hamlet and the houses around ...

– February 16, 2013) was a Swiss painter and representative of

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

and minimalism. Zürcher completed his initial training as Schaufensterdekorateuer in

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, after which he shifted his residence to Bern. Subsequently, he attended free art courses and worked as stage designer. From 1971 to 1976 he studied painting at the Art Academy in Stuttgart, K.R.H. Sonderborg, then at the Gesamthochschule Kassel, studying sculpture and painting with Eberhard Fiebig, which he finished in 1983 with a diploma. With linear and minimalist works, he was considered an important representative of the concept art, influenced by

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often took the form of typographic texts, a form of word a ...

, Daniel Buren, Meret Oppenheim and

Robert Filliou Robert Filliou (17 January 1926 – 2 December 1987) was a French artist associated with Fluxus, who produced works as a filmmaker, "action poet," sculptor, and happenings maestro. Life In 1943, Filliou became a member of the French Communi ...

. Markus Zürcher was active in the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects, but left in the early 1990s, and retreated largely from the active art scene. Since 2000 he was once more active, instrumental in the field of painting and theoretical, conceptual work.

Works and projects

His early work revealed a pronounced radicalism in dealing with minimal shapes; the use of color was largely avoided. Lithographs were created in limited editions, which emphasized this attitude. His later works, which as a whole had a unified, conceptual structure, actually played with colour. He had collaborated with writer and author

Raphael Urweider Raphael Bendicht Urweider was born on 5 November 1974 in Bern, Switzerland. He is a writer in English and German and a musician. Career Raphael Urweider is the son of a reformed minister. He studied German literature and philosophy at the Unive ...

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Publications

* Neue Galerie Kassel (Hrsg.), Markus Zürcher, Zeichnungen, 1986. * Berner Künstler stellen sich vor, GSMBA (Hrsg.), 1985. * Werro/Sandoz/Blancone (Hrsg.); Der Blaue Berg - SOS 12, 1984. * Zaugg/Egger; Lokaltermin Atelier, Verlag Bernische Kunstgesellschaft, 1987. * Frammenti, Interfacce, Intervalli. Paradigmi della Frammentazione nell' Arte Svizzera. A cura di Viana Conti. Genova: Edizioni osta & nolan 1992, S. 154-155, 202-203. * US/Kosellek/Breitenstein (Hrsg.), Bürokartie, 2010, S. 46 ff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurcher, Markus 1946 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Swiss painters 20th-century Swiss male artists Swiss male painters 21st-century Swiss painters 21st-century Swiss male artists People from Appenzell Ausserrhoden Swiss contemporary artists