Kurt Wenner's Work

When Kurt Wenner started his street art, it was at first drawn in 2D. After being highly inspired by anamorphism (the illusion of floating figures and architecture which was used by the famous European Masters in ceiling frescoes), he came up with a completely new geometry to bring his creations to life.

In 1984, he created and presented the public with the first 3D pavement art, which is also referred to as anamorphic or illusionistic street painting, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. When viewed from a certain point, his compositions appear to be three-dimensional and seem to rise and fall.

His 3D creations started a whole new art movement and participating in numerous festivals resulted in worldwide fame and admiration for his work. The last also includes sculptures, decorative stucco relief, ceramic murals, architectural designs, and many commissioned works for publicity stunts and advertisements.

His work has been featured in the media and won several prizes, such as first place in the fine arts division at the New York Film Festival for the documentary by National Geographic 'Masterpieces in Chalk' in 1987.

In 1991, the Swiss-German Television features his work in Italy in a documentary and won the Blue Ribbon award at the American Film and Video Festival and later on the Chris Statuette Award at the Columbus International Film, the Gold Award at INTERCOM Film Festival and the Silver Award at the CINDY competition.

In 1996, a print ad for Absolut Vodka was produced as a TV commercial, placing Kurt Wenner among other celebrities of our time. His work also resulted in the Golden Bacchus award from Barolo, the Golden Giotto from Milan, and the Kennedy Center Medallion for the first exhibit of a visual artist and his great contribution to the education of arts. He also was the Center’s featured artist at the 15th Annual Imagination Celebration Festival.

Many more, well-known, commissioned works came from his hands and his latest creation is a book called 'Asphalt Renaissance' in which the history, the transformation, the revival of this art form and Kurt Wenner's influence on it, is documented. It is available online and can be found in bookstores in almost every country!