Bernd Luz is a famous German visual artist and communication designer whose worksmainly involve media mix. The depiction reflects the collage principle in terms of the isolation and rearrangement of elements. His canvases invite the viewer to explore entire stories across the surface of the image.
“I depict the things that move me”, stated Bernd Luz. His canvases indicate a combination of allusions and figure. Possibly, it is due to that Luz loves life contrasts. He is attracted by the noise of automobiles and busy megapolis and he likes movement and speed. At the same time, Luz likes and appreciates silence. He often gets out into nature to feel its serenity, the breath of life and find a relationship.
Bernd Luz is an amazing artist who introduced the European audience to Kazakhstan and its history through his paintings. The core elements of his works are national symbols, ornaments, and pieces of art. “By creating recognizable objects and distinctive ornaments and interpreting them, a canvas can convey the soul of one city and even the whole country and give the most accurate impression about them. This is the essence of my genre,” said Luz.
His work named “Connectedness” was created for the President of Kazakhstan as a symbol of the bond between Germany and Kazakhstan. It was presented to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on December 6, 2019 at the 28th session of the Eurasian Club in Berlin.
“PopArt symbolizes the connection between Kazakhstan and Germany. It is inspiring, energetic, diverse, harmonious, cultural and at the same time modern. Just as the cooperation between the two countries should be. Kazakh and German motifs can be found in PopArt. Despite the great variety of motifs, a harmonious whole was created in which everything is coordinated. The President was visibly surprised and very pleased with it. I see my art as a bridge between the two cultures,” the artist shared his impression.
The paintings of the German artist were included in the SCES programme-based textbook for Crafts, Grade 7 (boys and girls) and the NIS-Programme-based textbook for Art, Grade 8, developed and published by the Centre for Educational Programmes.
In the textbooks, materials about Bernd Luz and his paintings are studied as part of the topics “Pop-art styled image of Kazakhstan” (Grade 7, SCES) and “Kazakhstani pop-art” (Grade 8, NIS-Programme).
The artist’s paintings have become an effective material for studying new approaches to creating collages and studying the media-max technique. Work on paintings makes it possible to develop imaginative thinking, virtual perception of the pop art style, and understanding the relationship between history and modernity.
Sample exercises:
1. Investigate
What genre do these paintings belong to? What do you think? What visual elements helped you identify their relationship with Kazakhstan? What colours are predominant? Why did the artist illustrate the yurt, shanyrak and etc.? What idea do they express?
2. Think
What do you associate with the image of Kazakhstan, what most of all demonstrates the culture and lifestyle of the Kazakh people? What visual elements (ornament, national dress, landscape, yurt, architectural objects) can most of all convey the lifestyle of our people? What place does the city of Nur-Sultan occupy in the life of our country?
3. Try
Make some sketches for a creative work that would depict the image of Kazakhstan. Create work in pop art style. Determine the main idea. You can use any architectural objects of Kazakhstan or elements of the Kazakh national culture (national ornaments, clothes, musical instruments, etc.)
While learning about Bernd Luz, the question comes on mind: “Why did the artist focus on Kazakhstan? The answer is simple. His wife comes from Almaty. Luz as a loving husband devoted two years of his life to studying history of our country. The study resulted in a series of works dedicated to Kazakhstan.
Colorful Astana
Traditions Pop
Kaz Cult
Almaty Pop M Green
Almaty Pop M Red
Справка
Бернд Луц – основатель и руководитель компании RevoLUZion, занимающейся графикой и рекламой на территории Германии и Швейцарии.
Призы и Награды
· Werbe-Profi (Профессионалы рекламы) – реклама для интернета (бронзовая медаль), Германия 2012;
· ЛОГО 2.0 – приз за лучшие идеи по дизайну логотипов, США 2011
(7 художественных работ);
· Приз за лучшие идеи по графическому дизайну (плакат), США 2011;
· Werbe-Profi (Профессионалы рекламы) – Логотип/CI, Германия, 2011;
· Лого Лондж, 2011 (1 художественная работа);
· Трейдмаркс, США 2011 (15 художественных работ);
· Werbe-Profi (Профессионалы рекламы) – реклама магазина (золотая медаль) и логотип (серебряная медаль), Германия 2010;
· Вебдизайн индекс, 2010 (1 художественная работа);
· Лого Лондж, 2010 (3 художественные работы);
· Трейдмаркс, США, 2010 (4 художественные работы);
· Werbe-Profi (Профессионалы рекламы) – золотая медаль в 2009;
· Большая энциклопедия визитных карточек, США 2008 (включено в книгу 10 работ);
· Гран При за дизайн логотипов, 2007г, США (Best of Logo-Design 5, 2007, USA (34 художественные работы);
· Трофи 2006, США (золотая медаль);
· Европейская ежегодная дизайн выставка, 2006, Италия;
· Всемирно известный бестселлер «Global Corporate Identity 2», 2004, США (в книгу вошли 18 художественных работ);
· Большая энциклопедия логотипов, 2004, США (в книгу вошло 11 художественных работ);
· Большая энциклопедия логотипов, 2001, США (в книгу вошло 10 художественных работ);
· Первый приз на конкурсе дизайна визитных карточек, 2002, США (3 художественные работы);
· Награда по вебсайту, Великобритания 2001;
· Логотипы баров и ресторанов, 2001г (3 художественные работы);
· Letterhead&Logodesign 6, 2001 (3 художественные работы);
· Graphic Idea Resource – приз за препресс, 1999 (2 художественные работы) ;
· Graphic Idea Resource – приз за креативность, 1998;
· Bags, Boxes&Tags, 1998, USA;
· Первый приз в дизайне брошюр, США 1998, (3 художественные работы);
· Большая энциклопедия дизайна, 2000, США;
· Global Graphics: Symbols, 2000, США, (2 художественные работы);
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 36, 2006 (вошли 2 художественные работы);
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 32, 2002, (вошли 4 художественные работы);
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 31, 2001, (вошли 2 художественные работы);
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 30, 2000;
· 2001 Награда «Признание» (за дизайн), США;
· 2000 Награда «Признание» (за дизайн), США;
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 28, 1998;
· Всемирная книга по креативным идеям дизайна: Creativity 27, 1997;
· Европейская энциклопедия по дизайну, 1997;
· Дизайн упаковок и этикеток, 1997, США, (2 художественные работы);
· 1997 Европейский сертификат по мастерству в дизайне;
· 1997 Награда «Признание» (за дизайн), США.