Youri Messen-Jaschin 

Youri Messen-Jaschin is an artist of Latvian origin, born in Arosa, Switzerland, in 1941. He often combines oils and gouaches. His favourite colors are: strong reds, yellows, greens, and blue. He also works in body painting, exhibiting his works in nightclubs.

Contents

Life and works

Messen-Jaschin studied at the Ecole Supérieur Nationale des Beaux-Arts, where his teachers included Robert Cami. He also attended the Hautes Études of the Sorbonne University. Part of his course included which included the history of art, and his teachers included Pierre Francastel. From 1962 to 1965 he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, where one of his teachers was Ernest Pizzotti. He worked for two years at the Center of Contemporary Engraving in Geneva before moving to Zurich. Influences at this time included Friederick Kuhn. From 1968 to 1970, he studied at the University of Högskolan for design & Konsthantwerk of Gothenburg, where he made kinetic objects of textiles.

His first group exhibition was the Lausanne EXPO, in 1964 (Swiss fair), where he presented his kinetic sculptures of glass and acrylic resin. In 1967 he exhibited in Scandinavia. In 1967, he met Jesús-Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Julio Le Parc during an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum of Gothenburg. Influenced by these artists, he became interested in optical art.

In 1968, Messen-Jaschin received First Prize in Swiss Contemporary Art of Engraving. In the same year, he was granted a Scholarship from the Swedish Government.

In 1970, he created a kinetic sculpture for the American company Gould, at Heistetten, in Germany. His Pop Art style single tapestry More Light is held in the collection of the Musée of Contemporary Art, in Zurich. Another tapestry, woven during the Seventies in his work-studio at Zollikofen, in Switzerland is held in the collection of Migros Vaud, in Switzerland.

After spending a long period in New York, Youri returned to Switzerland and settled in Bern, where he lived for eleven years. During that time he held many exhibitions at the Kunsthalle and also in other museums in the area, such as the Kunsthaus of Zurich, Ecole Polytechnique, Federal of Zurich, and the Cabinet of Prints, of Geneva.

He lived in Venezuela for a few years. He was awarded grants from the Foundation Mendoza and Yonekura Industrial and designed stage sets at the Sala of Conciertos del Ateneo and Teatro Ana Julia Rojas del Ateneo in Caracas. He was invited to present his theater performance art in various venues: VI Festival Internacional de Teatro, Fundacion Eugenio Mendoza, Association Cultural Humboldt (Goethe Institute) and the Alliance Française.

He maintained correspondence with Oscar Niemeyer and Burle Marx, in Rio de Janeiro, Ōtake in São Paulo, Brazil, and Clorindo Testa, in Buenos Aires.

In 1985, he received the first world prize of culture Premio Mondiale della Cultura statua della Vittoria from the Central Studi e Ricerche delle Nazioni, in Calvatone, Italy. At the same time, he became an Academician of Europe by the Università E Centro Studi e Ricerche of Europa, in Italy.

From 2004 to 2005, he stayed for several months in Sydney.

The Museum Royal des Beaux Art, in Brussels, Stedelijk Museet Amsterdam, and private collectors from the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe have works in their collections.

Works represented in museums, foundations

Bibliography

Books - Magazine

Encyclopedic

Introduction of catalogue

Publications

Books

Theater

Scholarship and prizes

Exhibitions

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Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. (July 2008)

Gallery

Body art by Youri Messen-Jaschin 1998: Halloween

External links