Friedrich Zettl

My work brings together two artistic traditions that have shaped my life: European modernism and the art of the Chinese brush. After early experiments with Expressionism and Surrealism, my years of study in China fundamentally changed the way I understood painting. Ink, paper and calligraphy gradually became central to my practice.

Today I work primarily with ink and mixed media on paper, moving between gestural abstraction, contemporary calligraphy and surreal, sometimes landscape-like forms. I am interested in the moment when control gives way to spontaneity: a brushstroke cannot be taken back, and an accidental mark may become the starting point for an entire composition.

Empty space is as important to me as the painted form. Rather than filling the surface, I try to create tension between gesture and stillness, density and openness, intention and chance. My background in Chinese painting and calligraphy remains present in this approach, but I do not attempt to reproduce traditional Asian art. I use its principles as part of a contemporary visual language shaped equally by my European experience.

Ultimately, I want the paintings to remain open. They may suggest landscapes, figures, dreams or fragments of memory, but I prefer ...

Friedrich Zettl studied Sinology in Vienna and Beijing, alongside intensive training in traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy and seal carving.

During his years in Beijing, he studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), where he was among the first European students admitted after the Cultural Revolution. His academic research focused on Chinese freehand painting (xieyi, 写意) and its aesthetic and theoretical foundations.

This combination of scholarly study and traditional artistic training became fundamental to his later practice. Chinese brushwork, calligraphic gesture and the expressive use of negative space continue to inform his contemporary work, particularly the balance between technical discipline and spontaneity.

2024 — Imaginarium, Group Exhibition, São Paulo, Brazil
2024 — Boomer Gallery, Group Exhibition, London, United Kingdom
2022 — Hong Art Museum Project, Group Exhibition, Chongqing, China
2018 — Schiff Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1995 — Kunstraum, Exhibition with Chiaki Genba, Vienna, Austria
1993 — Verbandsgemeinde Herrstein, Solo Exhibition, Germany
1992 — Verbandsgemeinde Birkenfeld, Solo Exhibition, Germany
1990 — Galerie L’Aigle Aigu, Solo Exhibition, Brussels, Belgium
1989 — Kulisse, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1988 — Galerie im Presshaus, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1987 — BAWAG, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1986 — International School, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria
1984 — Solo Exhibition, Beijing, China
1983 — Academy of Fine Arts, Exhibition with Maria Fang, Beijing, China
1982 — Café Central, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1982 — Academy of Fine Arts, Solo Exhibition, Beijing, China
1980 — Galerie ERGO, Solo Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1979 — Galerie ERGO, Group Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
1978 — Austrian Embassy, Solo Exhibition, Beijing, China
1976 — Galerie Bona Mente, Exhibition with Klaus Weber, Vienna, Austria