Brigitta Malche

Brigitta Malche (née Brigitta Maria Cäcilia Mairinger, born 12 March 1938 in Linz) is a Swiss-Austrian artist with municipal citizenship in Zurich. In addition to paintings on canvas, her work also includes light and sound installations and large scale Public art projects.

Brigitta Malche studied under Professor Sergius Pauser at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1956 to 1963. She also attended Oskar Kokoschka’s master class at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg in 1957.

During her studies she was awarded five prizes:

• Meisterschulpreis für Malerei [Master School Award for Painting]: 1957
• Goldene Fügermedaille für Malerei [Fueger Gold Medal for Painting]: 1960
• Klassenpreis für Kunsterziehung [Class Award for Art Education]: 1960
• Silberne Fügermedaille [Fueger Silver Medal]: 1962
• Klassenpreis für Kunsterziehung [Class Award for Art Education]: 1963.

She graduated in 1963 with a diploma in painting and a qualification to teach visual arts in secondary schools. Until 1970 she worked as a teacher at the Musisch Pädagogisches Gymnasium in Linz and Vienna. Since then she has devoted herself completely to her art.

Brigitta Malche lives with her husband Yves Schumacher in Zurich.

Painting (phases)

Constructivism

Malche's Japan series of paintings, which were made from 1977 onwards, take the appearance of architectural cut-outs and clearly structured façade sections, and testify to how relatively hermetic, constructivist principles can transform a "difficult rectangularity" into a system. The historian Hertha Schober spoke of a "inspired constructivism": "closed surfaces, open rows of bars, blue sky – closed, locked out, open, willingness to communicate [...]."

Meditation

‘Paradigm shift in China: not chinoiseries, not works about China, but instead works from China.’ Malche is inspired, among other things, by Chinese traditional lattice windows covered with rice paper. In her paintings she offsets rectangularity with soft, muted light. In a series of images, she depicts the Chinese oracle Yijing's hexagrams with delicate white tones, to reflect the change and flux of the polar forces’ appearances. This work forms the basis of her later light installations and meditation art.

Nature exploration

This series of paintings (2001) deals with plants and the light that they absorb to make them grow. Graphite and silver leaf are the media used in this series. The reflective qualities of these materials represent the light that is trapped by plants. Malche increasingly focuses on nature and its structures. She presents motifs from various areas of zoology and botany together in a collage-like style. For example, snail shells or sea shells may be interwoven with their molecular structure, or she might develop a crystal’s structure layer by layer. The artist combines patterns from the micro- and macrocosm, abstraction and figuration, movement and geometric patterns.

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  Blaue Orte (Blue Places)

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  Kaurischnecke (Cowrie)

Installations

One example dates from 1996: Brigitta Malche conceived and curated an exhibition titled Fragile – Handle with Care from the paintings collection of the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) in Vienna. She invited 14 colleagues to select an old master from the collection and to submit an art work of their own in response to the painting. With her own contribution, she transformed the baroque opulence of Nicola Malinconico's magnificent still life into intangible sensuality by transforming the motif of the watermelon into a cosmically exploding installation of colour and light.

Public art projects

• 1978: Am Schöpfwerk superstructure, Vienna. Brigitta Malche created a colour-coded system for this large complex of 1552 apartments by architect Viktor Hufnagl, with her mural which helps the residents find their way around. Work on the design, which was over 1000 square metres, led to her developing the architectural images in her 'Japan Series', created in 1977/79, according to the Viennese art critic Kristian Sotriffer.
• 1980/1981: Bank vault, Swiss National Bank (SNB) in Berne, (with the Atelier 5 architecture group, Berne): approx. 1,000 m² wall painting
• 1983: Kirchgemeindezentrum "St. Clara" (St. Clara parish hall), Basel, Switzerland: mural on floor and stage
• 1985: Schweizerischer Bankverein (now UBS CH): main hall, art installation
• 1987: Höhere technische Bundeslehranstalt Leonding (Higher Federal Technical College Leonding) (HTBL): relief
• 2007: Hospital chapel, Landes-Nervenklinik Wagner Jauregg (Wagner Jauregg Neurological Clinic) in Linz: main hall art installation

During her studies Brigitta Malche was introduced to the Dutch old master techniques. After creating constructive paintings with acrylic on canvas for her first exhibitions, she later went back to traditional painting techniques with gouache and oil paints. Today she mainly paints with egg tempera she makes herself, to create multi-layered, translucent pictures.

From 1971 to 1980 the artist exhibited in Geneva, Zurich and Vienna. The fact that she encountered the Zurich tradition of concrete art was evident in her first exhibition at the Galerie Palette in Zurich. Her works in the primary colours of red, blue, and yellow were influenced by Piet Mondrian's concept of the "pure relationship of pure lines and colours. Nevertheless, the artist never saw herself as a concrete artist, especially since she emotionalized her angular picture constructions with curves and shadows. The art historian and museum director Erika Billeter said: "If Brigitta Malche’s work is to be categorised in modern art, we must think back to Léger and Mondrian. This is where her roots lie. The constructive basis is infused with abbreviations of different cultures’ architectural components. Columns, volutes and architraves can clearly be seen. Her compositions, however, do not depict architectural details, but reflect them". Richard Paul Lohse, one of the leaders of concrete and constructive art, wrote in the foreword to Malche's catalogue for her exhibition in 1978 at the Schlégl Gallery in Zurich: "A consistent attitude characterizes her current period of rectangular bar grids. Formulations in the tradition of Cubism’s architectural and machine vocabulary still characterized recent images. [...] All the more remarkable is her current intention to abandon the conventional path of diversity of form and to take the more difficult path of right angles, where imagination adds so much while realisation minimises everything".

A two-year stay in Beijing (1980–1982), where she was also working as a lecturer at the Beijing Art Academy and was in contact with the Chinese art group Xingxing, was reflected in her art. The constructivism she cultivated gave way to meditative painting, which is characterized, among other things, by sensitive chiaroscuro. Since there are physical limits to light in painting, Malche expanded her work with light and sound installations. Her installation "Vier Elemente" (Four elements) at the Kunsthaus Zürich (Zurich Art Museum), which was part of the Vienna Secession Museum in the late summer of 1991, caused a sensation and brought in a record number of over 17,000 visitors. The installation was also shown to the public at the Museum Xantos Yanos in the Hungarian city of Győr.

For several years now, the artist has been researching the connections between the external appearance of natural objects and the forces hidden within them. In her paintings she abstracts crystals, sea snails, tortoise shells or Butterfly cocoons and connects them with the lives within them. Through a painterly exploration of the connection between surface and depth, she combines the aesthetics of the visible with the biological realities of the invisible, creating a synthesis of concrete references to objects and natural geometric structures.

Museum exhibitions

• 1971: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein (Upper Austrian Art Association), Schlossmuseum, Linz: members’ exhibition
• 1972: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein), Schlossmuseum, Linz: Vier Frauen (Four women)
• 1972: Palais de l’Athénée, Geneva: Collection Duo d’art
• 1975: Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (Linz City New Gallery), Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum, Austria: Avantgarde aus Oberösterreich (Upper Austrian Avant Garde)
• 1975: Secession Wien (Vienna Secession): Group Exhibition
• 1976: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich: Kunstszene Zurich (Art scene Zurich) (Judged)
• 1978: Helmhaus Zürich: Sammlung Banca del Gottardo (Banca del Gottardo collection)
• 1979: Secession Wien (Vienna Secession): Mitglieder der Secession (Secession Members)
• 1979: Secession Wien (Vienna Secession): Konzepte 79 (Concepts 79)
• 1980: Art 11'80 Basel, Switzerland (Gallery Istvan Schlégl, Zurich)
• 1984: Helmhaus Zürich: Kunstszene Zurich (Art scene Zurich) (Judged)
• 1984: Secession Wien (Vienna Secession): Identitätsbilder / 20 Jahre INTAKT (Identity Pictures / 20 years INTAKT)
• 1985: Kunsthaus Zürich: Kunstszene Zürich (Art scene Zurich) (Judged)
• 1985: Kunstmuseum Olten, Switzerland: 5th Bienniale Swiss Art
• 1988: Kunsthaus Zürich: Member-exhibition of the GSBK-Association
• 1990: Helmhaus Zürich: Ankäufe der Stadt Zürich (The City of Zurich's acquisitions)
• 1990: Helmhaus Zürich: Unikat und Edition (Unicum and Edition)
• 1990: Kunstmuseum Thurgau, (Thurgau Art Museum), Kloster Ittingen, Switzerland: Unikat und Edition (Unicum and Edition)
• 1990: Museum Hanau, Schloss Phillipsruhe, Germany: Drei Wege aus einer Meisterschule. Prof. Sergius Pauser (Three paths out of a master class – Prof. Sergius Pauser)
• 1991: Kunsthaus Zürich: Drei Räume, drei Künstlerinnen (Three Spaces, Three Artists), GSBK [Society of Visual Arts] exhibition
• 1991: Xàntos Jànos Museum Győr, Hungary: Four Elements (light and sound installation)
• 1993: Xàntos Jànos Museum Győr, Hungary: Colour and Light (light installation)
• 1993: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Linz (Upper Austrian State Museum), Linz, Austria: 125 Jahre Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein (125 years of the Upper Austrian Art Association)
• 1996: Akademie der bildende Künste (Academy of Fine Arts), Vienna: Fragile. Handle with Care (light installation)
• 1998: Kunsthaus Zürich: Schwarz (Black), GSBK exhibition
• 2000: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum (Upper Austrian State Museum), Linz, Austria: Schöpfungszeiten (Times of Creation)
• 2001: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum (Upper Austrian State Museum), Linz, Austria: Beziehungsfelder (Relational Fields)
• 2003: Kunsthalle Krems (Krems Art Hall), Austria: Künstlerinnen, Positionen von 1945 bis heute. (Female artists, positions from 1945 to present)
• 2005: Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria: Paula’s Home
• 2009: Kubinhaus Zwickledt, Wernstein, Austria: Der nackte Kubin (Kubin naked). Exhibition of the Oberöstereichischer Kunstverein (Upper Austrian Art Association) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alfred Kubin’s death
• 2010: Museum Bärengasse, Zurich: Baustellen (Construction Sites)
• 2017: Kunsthalle Würth, Schwäbisch Hall, (Germany): Verborgene Schätze aus Wien (Hidden treasures from Vienna), collection from the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts), Vienna

Solo gallery exhibitions

• 1971: Galerie Palette, Zurich: Brigitta Malche
• 1972: Galerie Nebehay, Vienna: Brigitta Malche: Bilder aus Griechenland I (Brigitta Malche: Paintings from Greece I)
• 1972: Galerie Palette, Zurich: Brigitta Malche: Bilder aus Griechenland II (Brigitta Malche: Paintings from Greece II)
• 1974: Galerie 57, Silvia Steiner, Biel, Switzerland: Brigitta Malche
• 1974: Galerie 68, Zofingen, Switzerland: Brigitta Malche
• 1975: Modern Art Galerie Wien, Grita Insam, Vienna: Brigitta Malche
• 1975: Galerie Palette, Zurich: Brigitta Malche: Neue Bilder (Brigitta Malche: New paintings)
• 1976: Modern Art Galerie Wien, Grita Insam, Vienna: Brigitta Malche
• 1978: Galerie Istvan Schlégl Zurich: Japan series I
• 1979: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein (Upper Austrian Art Association): Japan series II
• 1980: Galerie Istvan Schlégl Zurich: Book series
• 1980: Galerie Istvan Schlégl Zurich at the Art Basel
• 1980: Inter Art Galerie Basel: Japan series III
• 1983: Galerie Istvan Schlégl Zurich: I Ging Serie, Bilder und Zeichnungen aus China (I-Ging Series, Paintings and Drawings from China)
• 1985: Galerie Palette, Zurich: Stationen (Stations)
• 1986: Neue Galerie Wien, Vienna: Matrix-Serie und Ideogramme (Matrix series and Ideograms)
• 1986: Galerie INTAKT, Vienna: Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (Art in the public domain)
• 1986: Galerie Zimmermannhaus, Brugg, (Switzerland): Neue Bilder (New paintings)
• 1987: Galerie Susann Mäusli, Zurich: Blaue Orte (Blue Places I)
• 1988: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein Linz (Upper Austrian Art Association), Linz: Blaue Orte II (Blue Places II)
• 1989: Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Bonstetten, Switzerland: Blaue Orte II (Blue Places II)
• 1991: Secession Wien (Vienna Secession): Vier Elemente (Four elements). Light and sound installation
• 1994: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein (Upper Austrian Art Association): Parallele Welten (Parallel worlds)
• 1994: Galerie im Stifterhaus Linz, Austria: Polarität I (Polarity I)
• 1995: Galerie Zimmermannhaus, Brugg, Switzerland: Polarität II (Polarity II)
• 1997: Galerie Othmar Spiess, Zurich: Lichtakte I, Schwarzes Licht (Light Acts I, Black Light)
• 1999: Galerie Atrium ed Arte, Vienna: Lichtakte I, Schwarzes Licht (Light Acts I, Black Light)
• 2001: Galerie Annamarie M. Andersen, Zurich: Lightmarks
• 2001: Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein Linz (Upper Austria Art Association Linz): Lightmarks
• 2003: Galerie Annamarie M. Andersen, Zurich: Der fünfte Tag II (The fifth day II)
• 2008: Galerie Annamarie M. Andersen, Zurich: Concept on nature I
• 2008: Galerie artmark, Vienna: Geometric figures
• 2008: Galerie Atrium ed Arte, Vienna: Concepts on nature II
• 2010: Galerie Sihlquai 55, Zurich: Fragmente 1980–2010 (Fragments 1980–2010)
• 2014: Galerie Annamarie M. Andersen, Zurich: Heimliche Ordnung – verborgene Strukturen (Secret orders – hidden structures)
• 2019: Galleria d’Arte Gagliardi e Domke, Torino: Entrare nelle capsule del tempo (Enter the time capsules)

• SF DRS: Schauplatz, broadcast on 6 February 1988
• SF DRS, B Magazin: Richard Paul Lohse, broadcast on 15 September 2002