Flying Clamps, 1986
Oil on Linen, 50" x 37"
Three Planes, 1986
Oil on Linen, 40 1/2" x 35"
Werner Hoeflich was born in 1957 in Eugene, Oregon. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1979. Hoeflich has been awarded two scholarships from the University of Colorado and has received the Sean Driscoll award. His work has been exhibited in several solo and group shows, including solo exhibitions in the United States and France. Hoeflich began painting tools in 1984, and his fascination with the subject continues; tools and hardware form the basis for many of his painterly explorations. Although the tools remain recognizable, they are often shown from unusual angles, thus altering the viewer's perception of these mundane objects. The artist depicts the tools against painterly, non-objective backgrounds, which bring to the fore the tension between the surface and the subject of the work.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.