Zens Herwig – Self-Portrait 2

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. Kokoschke. He received education in graphic techniques as well. His exhibiting activity began in 1966. Since then and until today, the author has held exhibitions presenting 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, interpretations of the lives of F. Schubert and F. de Goya. He is 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 documenting events of his life on copper plates. This “Graphic Diary” is now more than 55 meters long and explores banal themes in a humorous and expressive way. The diary is a kind of attempt to triumph over death, so Zens worked on it until his death. For Zens, painting is the meaning of existence; he paints to live.