Gerhardt Moswitzer

_{Maria Lankowitz 1940 - 2013 Vienna}

Gerhardt Moswitzer was born in 1940 in Maria Lankowitz, Styria. Initially, the skilled tool maker was interested in painting. In 1959 he enrolled in the Kunstgewerbeschule (School for Arts and Crafts) in Graz for two years, where he dedicated his time to graphic art and sculpture.
In the course of several study trips to Paris he was influenced by the work of Constantin Brâncuşi and Alberto Giacometti which sparked an interest in abstract forms and dynamic planes. Over the following decades Moswitzer mainly created column and cube sculptures. His preferred material was iron. In 1970 the then only thirty-year-old artist represented Austria at the 35th Venice Biennale. His artistic oeuvre of the late 1980s focused on audiotape recordings, videos and vinyl. The late 1990s, then, were characterized by a new orientation towards digital forms of expression such as works on computers, animations, and experimental music.
During his lifetime Moswitzer was honoured with many awards, such as the Würdigungspreis für bildende Kunst des Bundesministeriums für Unterricht und Kunst (award for fine art by the ministry for education and art). His works were shown at exhibitions in Vienna, Budapest, Brussels and New York. Gerhardt Moswitzer died in Vienna in 2013.