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About Willi Kissmer

Willi Kissmer (b.1951- d.2018) was born in Duisburg, Germany. Prior to working as a professional artist Kissmer was a musician, producing three rock albums! Following an extensive few years of travel across the globe sourcing musical and artistic inspiration from anywhere between South America to Turkey, Kissmer found himself back in Duisburg teaching print making at the local University and focusing soley on visual arts.

Kissmer’s passion for print making was inspiring and he ran several graphic workshops on the printmaking and etching process. In 1989 he established his own artist studio and began exhibiting his work, holding numerous shows in America and England. He was perhaps best known for his technically exquisite etchings, oil and acrylic paintings that mostly depict nudes or half nudes, which are oftentimes draped in swaths of lush fabric. The details are accentuated in ultra-realistic texture using a combination of mezzotint, dry point and aquatint, which highlight the juxtaposition between flesh and cloth. Finding inspiration in his immediate surroundings, Kissmer’s model was usually his wife.