Freya Elvin – Breitenbrunner's grand dame of visual arts turns 90

On May 14, artist, book designer and gallery owner Freya Elvin celebrates her 90th birthday. Thanks to her diverse works and a wide range of different genres, she has had a lasting impact on the cultural scene, says Governor Hans-Peter Doskozil, who congratulates the 90s: “Freya Elven is one of those figures who had a decisive influence on the Burgenland scene, and her influence on current art is great.” “She is a great woman in the fine arts scene, known and appreciated beyond the borders of our country. I wish her a happy birthday.”

Elvin was born in 1934 and moved to Burgenland in 1967

Freya Elvin was born in Vienna in 1934. She studied English and drawing. Among her teachers were Herbert Böckel and Albert Paris Gutersloh. She came to Burgenland at the end of the 1950s as part of participation in the sculpture seminar in St. Margarethen. She lived and worked first in St. Margarethen and then in Breitenbrunn. In 1998, her work was recognized with the Burgenland State Cultural Prize. She was awarded the Kerry Prize (2003) and the highest award of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna – the “Golden Laurel” (2009).

In 1967, Freya Elvin founded “Wekstatt Breitenbrunn” in Breitenbrunn with her husband, German performance artist Will Frenken. Avant-garde works such as Fluxus, Concrete Art, Visual Poetry, Experimental Film, New Music, and Computer Art were produced, performed, and discussed until the 1980s. “It brought us the avant-garde scene and thus laid the foundation for making Burgenland what it is in cultural circles today: a respected area of ​​fine arts,” affirms Governor Hans-Peter Doskozil.

Master of all subjects

Specifically, Elfen brought world-famous artists such as Klaus Basset, Vali Export, and Peter Whipple to Burgenland. The artist also maintained extensive contact with the local art scene. As Chair of the Fine Arts Advisory Board, she has worked for many years promoting young artists in Burgenland.

Fria Elfen works with materials such as canvas, paper and copy. She also creates sculptures from plexiglass, mirror foil and light and uses means of expression such as letters, letters, texts and image structures. Since the beginning of the 1970s I have dealt extensively with language and writing, and since the beginning of the 1980s with the inclusion of images and image structures. Her distinctive artworks move at the interface between object and image or in the intermediary world between text and image. “In keeping with her artistic motto – never give up, always look for new experiences and new spaces – there is still a lot to expect from the Burgenland artist,” the state governor concluded.