Bernhard Luginbühl (16 February 1929 – 19 February 2011)was a Swiss sculptor.He created iron sculptures in the late 1950s. In 1976 he started with building giant wooden sculptures which he set on fire as an art event.His work featured a variety of materials, including iron, bones, wood and even weapons and industrial waste.After graduating from the School of Applied Arts in Bern (1948), Bernard Luginbühl (*1929) started working in Bern. The artist created his pieces in a variety of media: wood, stone and primarily since 1949, iron. In his lager than life-sized iron sculptures a satisfying monumentality encounters a creative playfulness deeply rooted in the material. A characteristic of Luginbühl’s work is the tension between movement and counter-movement, between dynamic elements moving into space and supporting structures controlling the movements.“Every little thing has meaning for me,” said Luginbühl on the occasion of his 2003 exhibition at Museum Tinguely in Basel.A park in Bern showcases about 60 of his enormous rusty creations, including animal figures.In addition to sculpture, Luginbühl also produced graphic design, lyric poetry and more fleeting works such as burning things in public as a form of protest.The son of a butcher, the Bern-born Luginbühl remained very down-to-earth despite the critical acclaim he received.
