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for HAGEN G. HALTERN
HAGEN G. HALTERN
born 1947
CountryOrem, Utah, USA
BiographyHagen Haltern was born on April 2, 1947 in Wittingen, Western Germany. His first show in America was in 1975 in the HFAC of Brigham Young University. Since January of 1978 he has been Assistant Professor of BYU's Department of Art and Design. His work deals with the Integration of all visual aspect into a unified vision of life. He calls this Vision: "Torus-Integration" which is the visual language of spiritual wholeness. He states: "To enrich and broaden one's Vision it is necessary to sometimes go back to the elements of Design. The full Vision of Life needs Integration as well as Differentiation--and that is what this show is about: going back to the simple lines, and points and patches, research as well as game of the possibilities. Besides these drawings the show contents lots of objects which reflect the shift of associations." As a professor at BYU, Haltern taught that a good painting is laid out according to a logical symmetry. This order contributes to the paintings success. If you observe nature, such as a seashell or a sunflower, or works by artists such as da Vinci, Michelangelo or Rembrandt, you see that their compositions adhere to the same mathematical formula. Information found under the "Miscellaneous H" artist binder in The Print Study Room. Sources include: a handwritten note from the artist himself.
Hagen Haltern was born in 1947 in Wittingen, Germany. He was raised and educated in Germany. Hagen received his BFA from Fachhochshule in Cologne, Germany and his MFA from Kustakademie in Dusseldorf, Germany. Hagen Haltern has taught at BYU since 1977. Currently, Hagen is an Associate Professor at Brigham Young University and teaches painting and drawing. His areas of expertise are drawing, painting, printmaking, and art theory.
Towards the Celestial Style
The scriptures teach us that "out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." Zion is the one and only perfect human society, and it is built on celestial law. Thus, we are challenged to find the celestial and spiritual foundations of all things - including art. The mature artist knows the first commandment and knows that life and art are foremost not about what I as an individual want, or what we as any form of collective want. The divine point of view is the true standard of art because God is the center of all things. "We must put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives," (Ezra Taft Benson). Thus, the serious artist will turn from natural naturata (the created nature) to natura naturans (the creating nature), to the Creator Himself. And through the gift of Ruakh Elohim (the Spirit of God the Father), the artist can see and know how God looks at beauty and art and which direction in art we ought to take.
Person TypeIndividual