Konrad Winzer
Born in 1955 in Lörrach. He lives and works in Egisholz near Kandern—away from the art scene, but close to the material.
Born
1955, Lörrach
Based
Stone | Wood
Medium
Stone | Wood
Biography
1970s
Training as a stone sculptor under Leonhard Eder in Rheinfelden. State, regional chamber, and national champion.
1980s
Studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, most recently under Prof. Alfred Hrdlicka, who had a significant influence on his artistic direction.
How Konrad Winzer Works
At the beginning, there is a tree trunk, cut to the right height. Winzer removes the bark—and begins carving. No chainsaw, no preliminary shaping, only the gouge and the flat chisel. At most, a few rough lines are drawn directly onto the wood with a charcoal pencil. Everything else emerges through a dialogue with the material.
In the past, it was stone: marble, granite, sandstone. Today, he works exclusively in wood. What has remained is the direct engagement with the material. This way of working is not a stylistic device. It is an attitude toward existence.
Artistic Focus
His only subject is the human being. Not idealized, not judged, but portrayed in all his contradictions: body and relationships, passion and pain, youth and transience, transformation and loss.
The sculptures are created in thematic cycles. In stone, these included Don Giovanni, Dionysus, Goya and Orpheus, culminating in *My Last Marble*. Since 2020, he has worked exclusively in wood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he created a cycle of his own. With *Enemy of Happiness* (2022–2023), a four-meter-high memorial column in bronze cast from linden wood, he responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine: a counterpoint to the victory column that does not glorify, but instead calls for peace. The occasions are tied to their time; the message is timeless.
“At the center of my work is the human being—with no reservations, no restrictions. My aim is not to idealize the human being, but to show them as they are: in their individual, often spontaneous moment.”