ERPE (Renate Polzer)

Ideas and visions constitute the basis for Polzer’s abstract two and three-dimensional artworks. Building her abstracted oil panels, the artist creates intricate textures by building with many layers of color beneath the final surface. Optical and haptic impressions are connected with transformations of previous paintings onto the new surface. These quotations, these references allude back to the artist’s past and produce consistent cycles that lead to an interesting future. For Polzer, it is very important to follow her own path and at times branch out to discover new elements in her work. Her Terrain Series blend historical letters and images from diverse cultural areas around the world, to result into her intricate collage paintings. Erpe is working with paper, finishing the artwork with collage and painting. The Part of Europe Series displayed here symbolizes the neighboring colors of Austria, by taking each countries flag colors and making a statement about Europe.

Born 1947 in Bruck a.d. Mur, Styria, Renate Polzer worked for 20 years as a freelance artist and cultural event organizer in Southern Styria, Austria. She studied  History of Arts at  Karl-Franzens University in Graz and her diploma thesis “Horst Reichle, Maler und Graphike” has been published by Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, ISBN 392448998X. Erpe has studied Painting and Etching at International Summer Academy of Arts in Salzburg with Gunter Damisch, and at the European Academy of Fine Arts in Trier with M. E. Prigge. In 2005, upon moving to Vienna, she opened her Studio Erpe.  The artist has been invited to exhibitions in museums, galleries and cultural centers in Austria, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Japan, Korea, Argentina, Cuba and the Seychelles. Polzer has received notable awards including the Award for Graphic Art in Bruck a.d.Mur with catalog (preface Dr. Walter Koschatzky, former director of the Museum ALBERTINA  in Vienna).