This issue’s Featured Friend is Rolf Wojciechowski. Originally from Berlin, Rolf lives and works in North Shields. He works with collage, photography, assemblage and photomontage. Rolf will also be giving a talk about his work on the 10th December. See the events section for further details.
Rolf, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for art:
Growing up in the Post War Era of Berlin in the 50s, I developed an interest in the debris from the still ruined sites that surrounded the city. From an early age, I collected bits and pieces like Kurt Schwitters after the First World War. My interest in art was triggered by my training as a window dresser in a department store in 1965. My first involvement with photography started in 1975 when I lived in Newcastle before I found a job in window dressing.
After two years I went back to Berlin and worked in Interior Design and Architectural Model Making. When I moved to Brighton (near Detroit) in Michigan, USA in 1985 I started my career as a professional freelance artist and returned to Berlin in 1989 just after ‘The Wall’ came down.
In 1998 I moved back to Britain, got married and have lived and worked in North Shields ever since.
What are you currently working on, or planning to work on?
My main focus is still to point out how we dismiss the ordinary and `the beauty of the everyday` which people continually by-pass. But I also like to make visible the plight of the homeless, who have to survive in these environments without much acknowlegment and help. I am continuing to work with my own photographic images of drains and drain pipes, back lanes and alley ways which I have taken in the urban environment over a long period of time, and which I then combine with 3D photo replications of found objects. eg. torn advertising posters, discarded items like cigarrette ends and empty packs, bottle tops etc.
Who is your favourite artist and/or what is your favourite art movement?
My development as an artist has been shaped by many different artists and art movements like DADA (Kurt Schwitters), Nouveau Realisme (Daniel Spoerry), conceptual art (Arman) and surrealism (Joseph Cornell) just to name a few.
Are there any events/exhibitions upcoming that you’re particularly excited about?
I have no immediate plans, but will be putting on a retrospective exhibiton of my work at ‘The Peoples’ Theatre’ next year in the summer.
When did you become a Friend of the Hatton and why?
I have visited `The Hatton` for 24 years and always enjoyed and appreciated the exhibitions, work- shops and talks. I became a Friend about 4 years ago.
What is your favourite part of being a Friend of the Hatton Gallery?
I continue to view the exhibitions and enjoy attending workshops and talks, and take the opportunity to connect with other Friends of the Hatton.
If you’d like to be our “Featured Friend” in a future bulletin, email roger.newbrook@gmail.com and we’ll send you our questionnaire.
Friends of the Hatton 