Zens Herwig – Self-Portrait

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. Kokoschka school. He acquired training in graphic techniques. His exhibition activity began in 1966. From then until today, the author has presented his distinctive work worldwide (Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Madrid, Berlin, Paris). He is the author of the large “Goya Project” at the Museum of Modern Art in Bilbao. He has received numerous awards granted to him by Vienna and Austria for his contribution to culture. The author 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 his work. In 1977, he began recording events of his life on copper plates. This “Graphic Diary” is now over 55 meters long and addresses banal themes in a witty and expressive manner. The diary is a sort of attempt to conquer death, and Zens will continue working on it until his death. For Zens, painting is the meaning of existence; he paints in order to live.