Switzerland
Gerhard Petzl
Chocolate artist, sculptor and Mixed media visual artist
As a chocolate artist and sculptor, I am one of the few in the world to combine art and edible materials and create at the highest professional level. I have established myself globally as a typical 'craftsman and service provider' in recent years. Be it either a personalized bust (based on the client's photo template), individual projects and sculptures for companies, galleries, museums and art lovers, or a live performance on stage. "Chocolate Body Paintings", which I celebrate on stage at live shows and clubbings.
Pioneer of "Chocolate Crystal Art" where I explore the visual beauty of chocolate crystals and offer them as large format editions or as design objects. A book was also published: "Chocolate crystals - the soul of chocolate".
After 15 years in the profession, I decided in 2003 to do an artistic training and therefore attended the master school for art & design (sculpture) in Graz, Austria and graduated with a diploma. Since then I have also been working with other media such as bronze, stone, wood, photography, videos, painting and graphics. It's difficult to classify myself, but being active in so many different mediums reflects the beauty and richness of art.
Having traveled to over 40 countries, these experiences and cultural differences often flow into my artworks. An essential element, however, is definitely the light and shadow effects of my work, because behind every physical work there is also an imaginary shadow that has to be controlled (or not).
8 x gold in international competitions, 25 awards, 250+ publications in TV, magazines and daily newspapers, publication of 3 books (2018-2020).