Alfonso Hüppi

A prominent representative of object art, Alfonso Hüppi is concerned with an aesthetic analysis of form, while also focusing on the usability of everyday materials. For over sixty years now, the conceptual sculptor and draftsman has worked exclusively with wood, using crates, palettes, board and wood fragments for his artworks. His abstract “woodworks” have a grammar of their own and are characterised by a vibrant colourfulness.The abstract “woodworks” have a grammar of their own A subtle sense of humour is also evident in the suggestions of human faces, bodies and animals painted on cross sections of trees or on shingles using dots and lines.

The two early white plaster reliefs reveal Hüppi’s interest in architecture and sculpture in the late 1950s. His sketchbooks from this period contain a diverse range of studies on the appearance of things. Geometric forms such as the square, circle, triangle, rhombus and pyramid are playfully deconstructed. The term pyramid indicates the approach to his work: “The pyramid is a very closed and clear concept. I was interested in taking it apart and revealing an inner three-dimensional possibility,” explains Alfonso Hüppi.

The untitled white wooden relief, which was created ten years later in 1967, also expresses the search for an abstract language of form through its transferring of the calm movement of a line into the wood in the form of a mark left by a saw. This minimal intervention and the folding open of the surface represent a little wink from the artist, a typical feature of Hüppi’s work.

Renate Goldmann

In the exhibition:

Alfonso Hüppi
Ohne Titel, 1958
Plaster
17,8 × 19 × 5,5 cm
VAN HAM Art Estate: Alfonso Hüppi

Alfonso Hüppi
Pyramide, 1958/59
Plaster
16 × 16 × 5,5 cm
VAN HAM Art Estate: Alfonso Hüppi

Alfonso Hüppi
Ohne Titel, 1967
Wood, casein
23 × 33,5 × 32,5 cm
VAN HAM Art Estate: Alfonso Hüppi

Additional information about the artist