Text by Michael Rooks

This catalogue is published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Zwirner & Wirth in 2007, which brings together a group of ten key works that exemplify H.C. Westermann\s innovative use of traditional craft techniques to create a body of sculptural work that remains uniquely situated in the canon of 20th Century art. From the late 1950s until his death in 1981, Westermann worked with a number of materials and formal devices to address a range of personal, literary, artistic, and pop-cultural references. The artist's sculptural oeuvre is distinguished by its intricate craftsmanship, in which wood, metal, glass, and other materials are laboriously hand-tooled, and by its ability to convey an offbeat, often humorous, individualistic sensibility.