BIOGRAPHY

Doris Bühler was born in Liechtenstein in 1970. She discovered her passion for art at an early age and pursued it as her chosen career. Her main focus is sculpture of the human form using a wide variety of materials.

She studied for her Bachelor of Arts in Boston and Paris through Wheaton College, Norton, MA, from which she graduated in 1994 with a dual degree in Studio Arts and International Relations. While at Wheaton, she was awarded the F.M. Carpenter prize for Fine Arts, and subsequently displayed her work at the De Cordova Museum in Lincoln, MA.
Doris then became an apprentice for 3 1/2 years at the renowned Skylight Studios in Boston, where she learned the trade of sculpture. She participated in numerous projects, including a 1 1/2 over life size replication of the Pony Express by J. Fairbanks for Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2000, she earned her Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from the New York Academy of Figurative Art in New York. Since that time she established her own sculpture studio "Artea" in Liechtenstein and works as an independent artist. Doris has exhibited at national and international shows in her home country, Switzerland, and the United States.

In the last 12 months Doris has exhibited in New York and is the 2004 recipient of the Beverly Hoyt Memorial Award

PHILOSOPHY

As an artist I am most interested in creation itself. The human body, with its life force and aura, is an endless source of fascination to me. This deep admiration for the beauty of the human species I express with my art. It seems to be a never-ending urge and struggle to render form. It's as if I would pour my life force into my work to achieve the utmost expressive feelings. The greatest challenge, however, is to grasp what is not to be seen with the eye, but solely felt with ones heart. With my figures, I strive to convey the spirit of a person which resides inside their flesh. Art, to me, is the language of the soul.

Nebula

Preamble.

A nebula is a nascent cloud of creativity, the birthplace of stars, planets and ultimately life itself. Our evolutionary chain can be traced to the elements that coalesced forming the earliest cosmic clouds. We owe our very existence to nebulae, and those primitive particles that allowed the building blocks of life to form.

Within nebula, creative forces are at work, proto-stars begin to form. These “embryos of light” are formed from the swirling dust and then they ignite, and become true celestial bodies. The violence and chaos inside a nebula can only be imagined. These are dangerous and dark places, full of pent up energy, energy that is usually released as the proto-stars ignite through a nuclear processes and burn, shedding light all around. It is at this point that the nebula becomes visible and it is possible to see the beauty of these clouds (like that of the nebula in Orion) as well as a glimpse of the terrible forces that have been at work.

Nebulae are vast chaotic places, and so are our own lives and experiences and with the human capacity for introspection, we look inward, at ourselves with same capacity that we use to look outward in amazement and awe towards the heavens. Our ideas, feelings and emotions are so born out of the swirling clouds of our lives, until they to coalesce into a fixed moment, a moment of self-realisation.

Our journey through life is at times nebulous. We find ourselves in chaos, being constantly torn and pulled apart. Like in the proto-star we reach an emotional “critical mass” where we take a view of our situation, and then, begin to navigate (perhaps by the light of our shining star) the course of our life. This of course is a moment of vulnerability where we stand upon the edge of destruction, or busting into new life. From this point of near emptiness we are filled with amazement and awe at our survival and through our chaos we have found our true purpose and course.

The Image.

A man sits, his arm extended towards the ground, his head bowed. His face, is initially hidden from us as his other arm is drawn across his body, closing the figure, emanating privacy.

Upon closer inspection of the figure we see the face, a face of melancholy, realisation and which shows the scars of internal emotional turmoil. His gaze is into the middle distance, towards a lost utopia, towards a dream that was almost within his grasp and is now lost forever.

The body is heroic, well formed and one of a young man. However the pose is one of loss and desolation, and seems to be too heavy for such a beautiful young character to bear. This is a young man, who having almost completed the Homeric nature of his journey finds himself still far from his goal and far from the idyllic peace that he has been seeking for so long. Here is our Nebula, a moment of self-realisation in the swirling chaos of life, the bursting into light and an understanding of the daunting and inescapable task that faces him – to go on.

Comments and Critique

Nebula is a study in form. The level of detail shows an intimate knowledge of the human anatomy. It shows great skill of the artist as well as a quest for perfection. The detail is almost obsessive. The hair seems to have movement as it falls forlornly across the face. The muscles are dynamic as though the piece were ready to leave its pedestal and head wearily, but with purpose towards the final objective. The simple solid base becomes almost invisible, as you become lost in the sadness and vulnerability expressed upon the face of this tranquil man. It is as though the sculpture sits trancelike in space raised above the common man by virtue of its position, and as an onlooker, you are compelled to meet the desolate expression and to share in some way the pain of this amazing figure. Looking around the piece brings no relief from the detail. The whole figure is so well formed (even to the trained eye) that the work has obviously exacted a great price from its creator. From every angle it brings delight, and provokes such intense feelings that it is impossible to stay close for very long. Nebula has an air of tragedy, the duality of sadness and beauty. Yet the piece is visually such a delight that you cannot tear yourself away. I am always compelled to visit him whenever I am in town, and gain some sense of my own position in life from this exquisite and yet emotionally challenging piece.

Current Exhibitions and Fairs

"Share Meat", "Fleisch teilen" Group show in the Galerie Tartar, Hintere Poststrasse 2, 9000 St. Gallen www.tartar-art.ch The show is on from Sep. 10th - Oct 8th 2011. Opening Sep 10th 5:30pm, Finissage Oct 8th from 11am onwards

Currently I am showing works at the splendit Park Hotel Giardino in Ascona Switzerland (Hotel Giardino | Via del Segnale 10 | CH-6612 Ascona) until the end of October 2011. For Information please contact catama event & art ag: Catherine (+41 79 696 44 27) or Amalia (+41 79 610 23 26).

Permanent Exhibition at the studio in Switzerland

Publications

Almanach 2008, Bildende Kunst in Liechtenstein, Berufsverband Bildender Künstler/innen in Liechtenstein, FL 2008
Valuable Links, Cultural Department of the Netherlands Embassy in Vienna, Vienna 2003

Awards

2004 Beverly Hoyt Robertson Memorial Award from the NSS, USA

1997 Deans List and F.M. Carpenter Price for Fine Arts, USA

Scholarships

Stipend of the Liechtenstein culture Committy,in Berlin October 2007 - January 2008
Sculpture summer, Rapolano di Therme, Italy 2005
Studio Stay Goertz, Brookline NY, USA 2004

2011

"Kollsion-Collision" One woman show at Gallery Bachlechner, Wiesentalstrasse 8i, 8962 Bergdietikon June 18th – July 31st 2011 http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/mediathek/bildergalerien/unterhaltung/109737784
http://www.kunstgalerie-bachlechner.ch
„I’ve Got a Secret“ Group show curated by Peter Drake and David Kratz at the Forbes Galleries, 60 Fifth Avenue at 12th Sreet New York City. (212) 842-5976. January 14 - March 19 2011 http://www.forbesgalleries.com

2010

"Mixed Media", Gallery Hengevoss-Dürkop Hamburg, 3rd Dezember 2010 7 till 9 o'clock, the exhibition will be open 4th December 2010 till 13th February 2011. Sculpture, Fotography, Paintings, Drawings and Installations with Doris Bühler, Marco Eberle, Llaura I. Sünner, Ransome Stanley www.hengevossduerkop.de

“X X X” ?an unprecedented exhibition of works from three classes of the Academy organized by The New York Academy of Art and the Alumni Association. Over 60 paintings, drawings and sculptures trace not only the Academy's evolution but also each artist's personal journey. November 5th, 6-8 pm New York Academy of Art, 111 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013 http://www.nyaa.edu/nyaa/alumni/reunion.html

Art Gallery Bachlechner Berg Dietikon, 1st Wiesentalpark Festival of Sculpture, 11th September 2009 - 10th July 2010

Kulturschiene Herrliberg-Feldmeilen; Journey through space and time, July 3rd - July 25th 2010, Together with the Painter Alvarez Frugoni from Uruguay www.kulturschiene.ch

2009

4th Triennale Bad Ragartz, Bad Ragaz Switzerland, March – November 2009

Festival of the Small Sculpture Ancient Bad Pfäffers, Switzerland 05/17/2009 - 10/18/2009

Charity Art Auction, Shalom in Burkina Faso, October 24th 2009

"Heartquake" Museum on the Seam, Socio-Political Contemporary Art Museum, Jerusalem Israel, Juli 08 - March 09

2008

Group exhibition, Zeppelin-Museum Friedrichshafen, Germany, November 2008

Skulpturen bei 529 Bingen am Rhein, Germany, April 18th – October19th 2008

„Aufbruch“, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Bergdietikon Zürich. 23.8. – 18. 10. 2008

Accrochage with works of Miguel Rothschild, Cony Theis, Bea Emsbach, Doris Bühler, Gallery Hengevoss Duerkop, Hamburg, Germany 03.26.2008 - 04.30.2008

Art Bodensee 2008, Galerie Hengevoss Duerkop from Hamburg, Dornbirn, Austria

2007

Stipen in Berlin Germany granted by the State of Liechtenstein Fall 2007

Art Bodensee 2007, Gallery Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg Germany, Galerie am Lindenplatz, Vaduz, Liechtenstein 26th- 29th July 2007

Tandemexhibition, Sculpture Gallery Krafft und Partner,Zurich Switzerland 04.25-06.30 2007

And Gallery Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg Germany, 3.19 - 5.11. 2007

Showcase Manhatten, New York Academy of Figurativ Art, New York USA, 1.7- 3.10. 2007

2006

Bad Ragartz 3. Triennale, Bad Ragaz, Switzerland and Vaduz, Liechtenstein, May–Oct. 2006

Bad Ragartz, Small Skulpturen-Exhibition, Galerie Pesko, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, 24.7.-21.10.06

Aus dem Depot des Kulturbeirats, Kunstraum Engländerbau, Vaduz, Liechtenstein 5th July – 27th August 2006

Small Sculptures, Altes Bad Pfäffers in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, , May–Oct. 2006

Art International Zürich, Sculpture Gallery Krafft + Partner AG, Switzerland, 19th – 22nd Oct. 2006

Art Bodensee, Galerie am Lindenplatz, Vaduz, Liechtenstein 28th -30th July 2006

Retro Engare, Benefit Auction for the Maasai, Liechtenstein, Mai 2006

Bildhauerbilder + Schaulager, Skulpturengalerie Krafft + Partner AG, Gebensdorf, Switzerland April – May 2006

2005

Skulpturengalerie Krafft + Partner AG, Gebenstorf, Switzerland, "Format klein Ausdruck groß" November 2005

Ratio Gallery, Belport NY 11713 USA, Holiday Exhibition November 17 - December 31, 2005

Galerie am Lindenplatz, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, , "7 Kunstpositionen aus Liechtenstein" July 2005 onwards

Ratio Gallery, Belport NY 11713 USA, Comtemporary Realism August 4 - September 5 2005

Studio Open Day, June 01, 04 and 05 2005, Trübbach, Switzerland

Brookgreen Gardens from March 12, 2005 to Sunday, May 22, 2005

Sabbatical, Rapolano di Therme, Italy, Stone Carving, Art History Trips to Rome, Sienna and Florence June / July 2005

2004

National Sculpture Society„Awards Exhibition“,, New York, USA, Beverly Hoyt Robertson Memorial Prize

Visiting Artist bei D. Goertz Studios, The New York Academy of Figurative Art, in New York, October/November 2004

2003

Bad Ragartz Triennale, Bad Ragaz Switzerland and Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Small Sculpture Exhibition, Altes Bad Pfäffers in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

Valuable links- Jewels from OSCE countries, Centre Ceramique, Maastricht and,

National Gallery for Foreign Arts Sofia Bulgaria and Museum für Volkskunde, Vienna, Austria

2002

Ton Warndorff Galerie, Haarlem, Holland

2001

One Artist Show, Glarus, Switzerland

2000

National Sculpture Society Annual Competition New York USA

NYAA Masters of Fine 2000 Exhibition, New York, USA

NYAA Student Exhibition, New York, USA

1999

Tristan & America Figurative Art Exhibition, New York, USA

NYAA Student Exhibition, New York, USA

Group Exhibition, De Cordova Museum in Lincoln MA, USA

1997

«Deans Liste» und F.M. Carpenter Prize für Kunst, Wheaton College (USA)