Constanze Leitner

Constanze Leitner was born in Nagold/Calw in 1956. After training as a bank clerk, she attended the art college in Pforzheim. In 1992, she took Swiss citizenship. After further training in the medical field, she worked in a geriatric psychiatric clinic until her retirement. During this time, she also worked as an art teacher and art therapist for both children and adults. She is a mother of four children. Today she lives and works near Schaffhausen. Constanze Leitner prefers to work with objets trouvés, i.e. found objects made of fabric, metal, sand, wood, rope, straw or the like. She processes these in a repetitive process of recycling and drapes them on canvas together with paints, glue, pigments and pastes. This creates a relief-like, abstract work that goes far beyond a simple collage. Since the beginning of the 20th century, this type of experimental material image has been writing art history with respected representatives such as Anselm Kiefer and Otto Muehl in German-speaking countries. Similar approaches have been observed since the 1950s with Czech Informel and with artists like Antoni Tàpies. Although they all use similar techniques, they each aim to express different intentions with their art. Constanze Leitner is guided by her intuition, her own history, the material and some self-chosen topics. However, she often hides her private view behind general titles in order not to restrict the viewer’s encounter with her art. The images are fascinating because of their depth, the multitude of translucent layers and the feel of the material used. Art that appears three-dimensionally in space evokes tension and emotions. Her images are noticeably alive. That’s why Constanze Leitner has referred to her creations since 1995 as “Pictures that live”. Constanze Leitner currently has three permanent exhibitions. Until 2023, she showed her works primarily in Switzerland and in foreign countries near the border. Since 2024 she has been represented internationally by the LDXArt Gallery.