Collection: Eberhard Renner

I grew up in Basel, Switzerland, started painting at a young age, and attended art classes during my Highschool years. The arts took second place when I enrolled in Medical School and built a career as academic physician, initially in Switzerland, since 2004 in Canada (Toronto, ON, and Winnipeg, MB). Encouraged by my wife, I resumed painting more regularly again in 2011, initially as a balance to my professional life, more full-time since my retirement from Medicine. Attracted by the rugged beauty of Georgian Bay, we live since 2025 near Parry Sound, ON.

As an abstract painter I am interested in exploring the interplay between different colours and hues on a flat surface. I work with different media, but favour acrylics and canvas. I am mostly inspired by landscapes which may show in some of my works and may give them a semi-figurative look.
That said, when I paint, I have no product in mind, even less so do I attempt to visually invoke in two dimensions the illusion of a three-dimensional world or to convey a socio-political message. I follow my intuition, immerse myself into the process, and let colours freely coalesce into shapes, avoiding conscious interference, as much as possible. This is the first, the right brain phase of the process.
In a second phase, the left brain sets in. I take a step back and try to find out which colours and shapes hinder the painting to build up enough tension to make the viewer wanting to let their eyes wander across the surface, ask questions, and wonder. I also want to identify areas that may result in the piece losing some minimal inner coherence thereby letting it visually fall apart. This can take time, I may have to put the piece away and have a fresh look at it after a few days, weeks or sometimes months.
Once the not yet satisfying areas on the canvas/paper are identified, I restart the two-phase process on those parts again and work the piece over. The cycle repeats itself until I am satisfied.
I hope that the end-product makes the viewer curious, stimulates them to freely associate, spin their own thoughts and, by doing so, enter into a personal, visual dialogue with the piece.


Exhibitions/Events
2011 – present Represented by Soul Gallery Inc., Winnipeg, MB.
2015 (August) Artist in Residence, Wallace Stegner House, Eastend, SK.
2019 (September) Solo exhibition, Soul Gallery, Winnipeg, MB.
2025 (May) Invited panelist, Charlottetown Forum, Confederation Centre of the Arts,  
                               Charlottetown, PEI.

Collections:
My work is represented in private collections in Canada, the US, and Europe.

Contact Information:

Email: ebi@rennerart.com

Website