Guido Lötscher
- Jun 13
- 2 min read
Guido Lötscher is a contemporary abstract painter who has exhibited across Switzerland. Notable exhibitions include several features at Swiss ArtExpo in Zurich, Crossroad Gallery in Lezern, multiple shows at Galerie Böhner in Mannheim as well as Hotel Hilton in Zurich and Koln, Art International in Zurich, and Galerie Artefix in Sempach. Guido describes his influence and methods to his paintings: “My references are «spiritual» painters such as Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter, both in the use of colour and in technique. Whereas in color field painting it is heavily thinned layers of paint, oil tempera and brushes, in squeegee painting it is undiluted, impasto oil paints and squeegees that model the image layer by layer. As the bearer of a language that has characterised the history of contemporary art, I have created a coherent and
identifiable oeuvre with my own individual «stroke»”.
The abstract paintings in Guido Lötscher’s portfolio are a study in complex surfaces which reveal technological aesthetics and may even resemble digitized screens. Modernists and abstract expressionists from the 20th century were focused on the aesthetic of the paint as well as surface. Guido, on the other hand, reveals contemporary inclinations through smeared illusions and distortions, like a Rorschach test we as the viewer may interpret various scenes from his planes of paint, such an electrical lightning storm out on the beach or a haze filled sfumato engulfing a forest.
Through improvisation and intuition, Guido explores how paint can be manipulated to create illusions through abstract form. While the painting can be appreciated as a study of obtuse paint and surface, there appears to be a deeper complexity to his work which goes beyond such notions. The rapid sense of movement tending in one direction with smears followed by melted globs of paint reveals planes of flattened structure which can lead to multiple interpretations based on the eye of the beholder. Guido disregards the brush as a semi-obsolete tool and favors the squeegee to advance paint aesthetics, through the geometric motion of his arms, he conveys planes of distortion which are reflected in paint organically converging with one another through careful smears which have a unified, polished surface containing the absence of fragmented attributes, such as brushstrokes, linearity, form, geometry, or defined light and shadow.
No. 1757 (pictured above) reveals a rich red coat of paint smothering and smearing against planes of monochromatic tone. The careful smear of the red appears almost like theatrical drapery preparing to reveal the stage. Through careful manipulation of paint and sophisticated color aesthetics, Guido creates a magnificent piece.
Guido Lötscher creates enigmatic planes of distortion. These compositions bloom beyond the aesthetics of paint and appear to have attributes of both digital as well as photographic applications. Through intuition and improvisation, he reveals ‘landscapes’ and scenes which may seem hallucinogenic or represent far away distances which are covered in storm, smoke, or soot. With a sensitive eye towards color and tone as well as a gifted guided hand, Guido Lötscher pushes painting further beyond elements of surface and pigment and into optical illusions based on complete realms of abstractions.
