Rémy Wenger
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1957 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, I am married and the father of two children and grandfather of six. After many years in the Jura hills of Neuchâtel canton, I migrated with my companion to the Chablais area of Vaud canton in 1919.
After my compulsory schooling, which was more a case of undergoing than attending, for I was clearly not suited for it, I took vocational training in graphic arts. I left that field of work fairly quickly and turned to archeology, where I specialized in scientific drawing. Over the same period, I collaborated for several years on the ANIMAN magazine, creating its layout and doing various illustrations (maps, diagrams, etc.).
As speleology is something I do with a passion, I actively worked towards the creation of the Swiss Institute for Speleology and Karstology (ISSKA) and this led me to give up archeology so I could commit myself professionally to the life of the institute.
In addition to my work for the IASKA, I took up my activities in the field of graphic arts again in doing the layout for numerous books and magazines and in writing several books of my own.
I am therefore a perfect example of the self-taught man who has trouble following the line that society would have liked to impose on him. Being by nature curious, willful, and passionate, I feel fortunate in having maintained a strong taste for discovery outside the beaten paths.
Artistic approach
Having developed enthusiasm for speleology early in life, my desire became to bring to my artistic activity pictures from the very special world which is that of caves. Gradually over the course of the expeditions this new pastime became a passion, one that led me to travel everywhere (or almost) in the world to admire underground scenery and bring home photographs.
These pictures of caves served as raw materials for numerous articles published in magazines both Swiss and foreign. I have also published three books of my own on this subject.
After a while my interest in caves faded out and I turned my gaze instead towards church crypts and to churches themselves. It may seem at first difficult to establish any connection between caves and churches. In my approach, however, there definitely is a connection. Both caves and churches, especially those of the Middle Ages, hold a wealth of mystery and harmonious beauty that attracts my eye and causes me to wonder.
There’s another passion that has captured me, that of crop circles. Here, too, lie much mystery and beauty. The photographic work I did on this subject, as well as the work I did on sacred architecture, led to the publication of a book.
Publications
Dans les cavernes du Monde (In the Caves of the World)
Ed. Mondo (1991)
Co-author : Jean-Claude Lalou
Baumes et gouffres neuchâtelois (Balms and Chasms of Neuchâtel canton)
Ed. Attinger (1997)
Co-author : Roman Hapka
Cavernes, face cachée de la Terre (Caverns, the Hidden Side of Earth)
Ed. Nathan - Paris (2006)
Höhlen, Welt ohne Licht
Ed. BLV - Munich (2007)
Ephémères, mystérieux cercles de culture (Short-lived and Mysterious Crop Circles)
Ed. Chaman (2011)
Aires de lumière (Zones of Light)
Ed. de la Tour Lanterne - Lausanne (2013)
Sanctuaires de France et de Suisse, voyage au cœur du sacré
(Sanctuaries of France and Switzerland, A Voyage to the heart of the Sacredness)
Ed. Favre - Lausanne (2018)
Aux sources de la Suisse (The Beginning of Switzerland)
Ed. Haupt - Berne (2021)
Ed. Chaman, 2011
Ed. Favre, Lausanne, 2018
Ed. Nathan- Paris 2006
Ed. Chaman, 2011
Exhibitions
Ephémères – crop circles
Flon, Lausanne, 2011
Aires de lumière
Lausanne Cathedral, 2013
Aires de lumière
St-Ursanne Collegiate Church, 2015
Aires de lumière
Silvacane Abbey (F), 2016
Aires de lumière
Silvacane Abbey (F), 2016
Crop-circles & sacred architecture
Maison suisse, Santiago du Chili, 2017
Re-Visionary Art Salon, Aigle, 2022
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Re-Visionary symbol: I leave my work free of copyright so that it can be shared among people who wish to reproduce it in the spirit of the Collective, as long as they indicate me as author.
Copyright symbol: I am the copyright holder of my own works: my work cannot be reproduced, except by the Re-Visionary Art Collective, under the conditions as indicated above in point 1. Unless I give my written consent.
CONTACT
Rémy Wenger
1856 Corbeyrier
079 428 72 15