Louwrien Wijers

Louwrien Wijers (b. 1941, Aalten, the Netherlands) is a writer and visual artist whose practice revolves specifically around sculpture, both mental and material. From 1968 to 1986, Wijers worked closely to Joseph Beuys, when she was trained to look at, write, and speak ‘like’ a sculpture. In 1981, Beuys asked her to introduce him to HH the Dalai Lama, whom she had interviewed in length following a request by Andy Warhol. Wijers most important mental sculpture to date titled Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy (1990/1996)is a direct result of the Beuys/Dalai Lama meeting she organized in Bonn in 1982. From 1998 to 2005, the artist focused on the work Compassionate Economy which led her to the conclusion that ‘satisfying not maximizing’ was the current economic trend, and that “No Lying/No Stealing/No Killing//Grains/Vegetables/Beans” was a firm basis for a successful worldwide household and a new world economy. The influence of food in our future is now her main topic: “In order to build a stable society it is important that nobody goes to bed hungry” and “Hunger is the only true dictator,” to quote Mahatma Gandhi.