Willi Kissmer

Willi Kissmer was born on December 24th 1951 in Duisburg, Germany where he passed away on July 27th 2018.

Kissmer was known for technically exquisite etchings, oil and acrylic paintings that mostly depict nudes or half nudes, which are oftentimes draped in swaths of lush fabric.

The details are accentuated in ultra-realistic texture using a combination of mezzotint, dry point and aquatint, which highlight the juxtaposition between flesh and cloth.

Finding inspiration in his immediate surroundings, Kissmer’s model was usually his wife. Presented as a subject of eroticism and detailed study, he articulates our communal relationship with objects of desire.

After his studies at the renowned Folkwang art school, Kissmer made a name for himself both as a musician and an artist. After numerous educational trips to Russia, Egypt, South America, Greece, Italy and Turkey he taught printmaking at the University of Duisburg. He has had numerous exhibitions in the United States and England.

In his work, the artist preferred the torso. He consciously omitted the representation of the head, abstains from individual facial features, and the rendition of hands, the gestures of which could impair the composition and thus the statement. The omission of individuality as well as psyche, the concentration on universal anonymity, and the emphasis on the body indicate Kissmer’s actual concern to deliver symbols of elementary human life, which find beautiful expression in the blooming female body.