ART I GÜNTHER VILLGRATTNER KUNST I GÜNTHER VILLGRATTNER Günther Villgrattner, an extraordinary painter who also deals with ethical issues. The capture of pictorial, coloured forms, symbols, figures, and different materials characterise his style and illustrate the confrontation with the levels of human ethics and their interplay. Excerpt from an interview The story of a journey and a special encounter What has particularly infuenced you or your art? A formative and moving encounter in Ethiopia was responsible for my decision to present myself to the people and to take my art to the outside world. In 2019, I stayed there in Lalibela with a young clever man, named Habebe, who was in the process of having a house built for room rental. I saw 10 workers, each with a big stone on his back. The construction cost would have been €6,000, which of course he didn’t have. After I had learned that Habebe takes care of the old people in the village and organises food, I promised him my support. And if my art should ever work, his house will be completed sooner, those were my words. Since then, I have been included in his daily morning and evening prayers. In the meantime, I am at the second house, where the roof was finished before winter and the rainy season, and who knows what else can be realised. What inspires you? I think it is my complete contentment, serenity, my journeys, diving in, drifting, experiencing. I am filled with impressions, feelings, and experiences. As in my paintings, where I don’t know WHAT is going to happen beforehand. I paint until I like it. What would you do if you could change the world with one brush stroke? Maybe it would be helpful to paint flowers to the soldiers instead of weapons, to draw a heart to many people ... to project values or to give some colour to POC ... WATCH ONLINE: art-villi.at / galatery.com / vivaarte.online Instagram: @guenthervillgrattner GÜNTHER VILLGRATTNER »Everyone is an artist as a child. The difficulty is to remain one as an adult.« Pablo Picasso Fotos: © Gerhard Groger Photography 162 163 Living Moments Living Moments EDITION N°9 • 2023/2024
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