Zens Herwig – Rab

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 O. Kokoschke school. He obtained further training in graphic techniques. His exhibiting activity began in 1966. Since then, he has held exhibitions presenting his distinctive work around 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 contributions to culture. He is the creator of 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 his work. In 1977, he began recording events of his life on copper plates. This “Graphic Diary” is now over 55 meters long and deals with banal themes in a humorous and expressive manner. The diary is a kind of attempt to conquer death, and Zens continued working on it until his death. For Zens, painting is the meaning of existence; he paints to live.