Verónica Werckmeister (b. 1972, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.)

Veronica Werckmeister is a figurative painter based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country.

Her studio paintings work with familiar images — figures, animals, domestic objects — examining how culture shapes perception before we have a chance to question it. Her current series centers on the one-eyed owl: a symbol of false authority, of claimed wisdom in a world saturated with expertise and noise. The paintings are built to be looked at by anyone. No prior knowledge required.

Her public practice spans more than 30 years. Since 1993, beginning with the Social and Public Art Resource Center in Los Angeles, she has worked with city governments, schools, institutions, and private clients across Spain and the United States to create large-scale murals designed to belong to the places they inhabit. In 2007 she co-founded the Mural Itinerary of Vitoria-Gasteiz, a programme of 19 collaborative large-scale murals that transformed the city centre.

She has worked in both oil and mixed media, at scales ranging from works on paper to building-sized exteriors.

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