Zens Herwig – Pair

He was born in 1943 in Himburg near Vienna. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in the class of Prof. Elsner. During his studies, he also attended the school of O. Kokoschka. He acquired training in graphic techniques. His exhibition activity began in 1966. Since then, he has held exhibitions showcasing his distinctive work all over the world (Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Madrid, Berlin, Paris). He is the author of the extensive “Goya project” at the Museum of Modern Art in Bilbao. He has received numerous awards from Vienna and Austria for his contribution to culture. He has created thousands of graphics, drawings, oil paintings, and interpretations of the lives of F. Schubert and F. de Goya. He is a professor emeritus at the Vienna Academy. His work is marked by two obsessions – death and Goya, whom he also interprets through a dissertation on Goya’s works. In 1977, he began recording the events of his life on copper plates. This “Graphic Diary” is now over 55 meters long, treating banal themes in a humorous and expressive way. The diary is an attempt to conquer death, and Zens worked on it until his death. For Zens, painting is the meaning of existence; he paints in order to live.