Herbert ZANGS
1924–2003, Germany



\"Herbert Zangs is a phenomenon.\" This is what his friends in the art world, among them Joseph Beuys, said about this intriguing German artist in the 1950’s. In this period Zangs developed a very personal and unorthodox style, without any clear links to the major artistic movements of the time. As a child he was fascinated by objets trouvés, which he kept as prized possessions, and which were later to form the most important component of his art. He covered them with a delicate layer of white paint, a process which he referred to as \"Verweissung\" (literally: whitening). These works exude poetry and energy and from an art historical perspective they can be seen as a precursor to Zero Art.
Zangs has recently been rediscovered in Paris, where his biography is being written by Emmy de Martelaere, the first two volumes of which appeared in 2004. After his death a bank account in his name was discovered in New York with 100,000 dollars which were the proceeds from a successful exhibition held there in the 1960’s which is believed to have been organized by Leo Castelli.
The parallels with Joseph Beuys are equally intriguing. Both were from Krefeld, a small German town near the Dutch border and were later classmates at the Kunstacademie in Dusseldorf. During the Second World War Beuys and Zangs were fighter pilots and both were shot down over the Russian steppe and only managed to return to their native Krefeld after long and arduous adventures, which is probably what has led the careers of these two artists to be seen as running in parallel. The combination Beuys’ iron-rigid methodology and Zangs’ refusal to compromise was to result in the latter not receiving the recognition he deserved. However, though the Zangs phenomenon may have been discovered late, he now enjoys a growing number of admirers of his work.

Source: http://www.paol-co.com/search_artist_uk.asp?ArtistID=136