Monumental Gravity Schwanden
- Antonio Wehrli
- Aug 20, 2024
- 3 min read
Finally, the "Monumental Gravity Schwanden" hangs at the church tower.
The “Monumental Gravity Schwanden” was completed in time for the 675th anniversary of the church in Schwanden and during the celebrations on August 17, 2024, the spectacular image was hung in its place on the tower.
The effective preparations for the painting started in June, when I gave the canvas pieces to a tailor to sew them together. On Friday, August 9, I was able to pull out the 7m x 6.75m canvas in the large marquee.
On August 10th, young and old were invited to leave their own mark on the canvas during two hours. Many children and several adults dared to step onto the canvas and they painted a lot of blues and some white with their hands, feet, brushes and plate knives.
Using lots of white and a some blue, I transformed the surface designed by my helpers into a harmonious whole. Whether the surface shows water or an intergalactic vortex is up to the viewer.
Photo Credit: Ruedi Kuchen
On Sunday, August 11, I painted the yellow Gravity part. I poured different shades of yellow from large buckets onto the canvas. Using a palette knife and additional white, I quickly created my Tai Chi waves.
Photo Credit: Ruedi Kuchen
Yellow mountains and hills emerged and the nuances of the color fascinated me during the painting process.
Four of us hoisted the heavy canvas up and secured it to the tent with ropes and broomsticks. Now gravity began its work and made its contribution to the artwork. The Tai Chi waves became longer and longer. While the paint was still flowing, I corrected a few small imperfections.
On the next day I was very happy with the result.
Meanwhile, the paint had to dry. On Wednesday I had mixed feelings of hope and doubt as to whether there would be enough time for it to dry out completely until Friday. By then, the canvas had to be carried to the foot of the church tower, where it would wait another day until it was pulled up on Saturday.
Accompanied by the Harmonic Music Schwanden under the baton of Jürg Hösli, the "Monumental Gravity Schwanden" was pulled into the planned position. There it was secured with ropes on the sides and bottom by climber Thomas Marti, who was hanging from the crane.
While it was still being secured, Pastor Peter Hofmann moderated a short conversation with me about the symbolism and idea of the painting. I explained that the artwork was created in the colors of the Schwanden parish and that the yellow part of the painting symbolizes communication, exchange, equality and peace. All important aspects for living peace.
A beautiful end to the summer months and a new beginning in the creation of monumental gravity artworks.
Now, I would like to point out the new exhibition at Antonio Wehrli Art Space:
On Thursday, August 15, 2024, "Interstellar Traveler's Time" opened in the presence of Mayor Hans-Ruedi Forrer, Head of Glarus South Economic Development Christian Marti-Hauser, President of the Glarus Art Association Kaspar Marti, artist Liming Fu and many interested parties.
The exhibition runs until September 9, 2024 and I look forward to welcoming many art lovers.
An exciting blog by Eduard Hauser about the Monumental Gravity Schwanden and the exhibition at the Art Space can be read here: (german)
Best regards from Schwanden,
Turn your life colorful,
Antonio
