ZIMMERMANN's real still life.photo: Courtesy of SNM
ONE of the last pressmen to print graphic works by hand, Ernst August Zimmermann is currently exhibiting his artistic natural prints at the Slovak National Museum (SNM) in Bratislava under the title Metamorphoses.
"Through his works, inspired by the beauty of nature which he converts into natural self-prints, he presents his ability to understand nature, his exaltation of the print medium, and his love towards people," said Rastislav Fiľo from the Museum of the Carpathian Germans Culture - SNM.
Zimmermann was born in 1939 in Veľké Pole, Slovakia. When he was five, his family moved to Germany, where he graduated in philology and art history at Erfurt. In 1979 he opened a private graphic print house and later he helped to found the influential Grafik-Galeria and GrafikArt in the town.
He has displayed the quality of his work at many international exhibitions. As a result, renowned graphic artists such as Werner Tübke and Karl Georg Hirsch from Germany, Arsuko and Kunihiko Kato from Japan, Mimmo Paladino from Italy, and Jiří Anderle from the Czech Republic asked him to print their works. Zimmermann was one of two pressmen in the world to have printed works by Albín Brunovský.
"From what seems the trite reproduction of natural objects, such as leaves, grass, and wood structure, he can create master works, which, enhanced by the delicate touch of his spiritual power, and with the help of his phenomenal print art, become artistic pieces. Zimmermann is an acknowledged master of graphic art, who builds an important bridge between his old and new homeland in a unifying Europe," Fiľo said.
The exhibition runs at the SNM's main building on Vajanského nábrežie until the end of August.
