Peter Dressler

Austrian photographer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Dressler (17 September 1942 – 15 September 2013) was an Austrian photographer and academic teacher.[1]

Life and work

Peter Dressler was born in Brașov, Romania on 17 September 1942.[2] He created his first photographic works in the 1960s. After studying painting from 1966 to 1971 at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Gustav Hessing,[3] he graduated with a diploma. Afterwards, he stayed at the academy as a teacher from 1972 to 2008, initially as a lecturer under Hessing, and from 2001 on as an assistant professor under Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Hubert Schmalix and Amelie von Wulffen.[1] Both as a teacher and as "foremost protagonist of [the] pioneering generation of auteur photographers in Austria"[4] he had a significant influence on Austrian Photography from the 1970s onwards.[5]

Dressler used photography to create staged "photo stories",[1] his aim was "to bring to life the static picture".[6] Often he used spaces of human interaction for locations: public spaces (like "Kunsthistorisches Museum" for the series "With Great Interest", 1989), semi-public like shops and hotel rooms ("Tangible Beauty", 1992 and "Business Class", 1996) and private spaces ("Lasting Values", 1997). These locations he often found by chance.[7] He staged temporary interventions for his photographs and often performed himself – forever alone[8][9] - in front of the camera ("In unmittelbarer Nähe" [Very Close], 1997, "Tie Break", 1996, "Rather Rare Recipes", 1987, among others) or he used props for his protagonists – like the "Burschi" dog sculpture[7] ("With Great Interest, 1989) or a tin toy figure of a gymnast (in the early series "The Good Son", 1977–1983).

In early works, in the 1970s he explored the spaces of Vienna, for example in his artist's book "Zwischenspiel" [Interplay – unpublished until 1989] or his collaborations with the painter Franz Zadrazil: the book "Das Wiental" (The Vienna Valley] and the black-and-white film "Sonderfahrt".[4][10]

Dressler was buried at Mauer Cemetery (group 41, row 1, number 1) in Vienna.[11] Works by Dressler are part of the collections of Albertina,[12] Museum der Moderne Salzburg and the collection of the Austrian state,[13][14] the artistic estate is located at Fotohof archive.[15] KunstHausWien‚ presented the first posthumous retrospective of Peter Dressler's work in 2016.[5]

Solo exhibitions (selection)

Books

  • 2016: Vienna Gold. FOTOHOF>EDITION. includes texts by Christine Frisinghelli, Rainer Iglar, Bettina Leidl, Michael Mauracher. German /English. 30 × 24 cm, 186 Seiten appr. 170 plates. edition: 1000, ISBN 978-3-902993-41-0.
  • 2004: Eher seltene Rezepte, Rarités Culinaires, Rather Rare Recipes. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 8 pages. 16 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-36-8.
  • 2002: Business Class. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 20 pages. 29 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-27-6.
  • 2002: Greifbare Schönheit / Tangible Beauty / Beauté Tangible. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 24 pages. 13 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-25-2.
  • 2002: Tie Break. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 22 pages. 14 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-26-9.
  • 2002: Bleibende Werte / Lasting Values / Valeurs Sures. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 20 pages. 12 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-24-5.
  • 1989: Zwischenspiel. Karolinger Verlag. Includes an introduction by Otto Breicha. 98 pages. 90 plates, ISBN 978-3-85418-039-5.

Awards

[17][3]

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI