Bettina Werner (born in 1965, in Milan, Italy) is an Italian artist based in New York City. She has created artwork with her colorized salt technique since the early 1980s. Werner became an American citizen in July 2010 and now bears dual citizenship.
Life and work Werner was born in Milan where studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera. In 1989 she relocated to New York.
Salt's crystallized texture intrigued Werner and encouraged her to explore different combinations of textures and colors creating a unique and signature artistic language. Her first exhibition in New York was at the Marisa Del Re Gallery in 1990.Bettina Werner
Her salt paintings, sculptures, art installations and functional pieces of artwork, such as her salt sculpture-table, salt sculpture-bed and salt sculpture-backgammon boards are exhibited in museums and galleries extensively throughout Europe, Russia and the United States, including the Whitney Museum, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Detroit Institute of Art, Las Vegas Art Museum, Chase Manhattan Bank, the collection of Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, and the collection of Martin Margulies in Miami.
In 2002, she founded The Salt Queen Foundation in New York, a non-profit educational institution. Its goals include the celebration of artists who use innovative techniques and unusual materials. The institution is dedicated to the support, conservation, and protection of works of art created with Werner's unique textured and colorized salt technique invented in the 1980s.Bettina Werner Furthermore, the foundation aims to promote the education of the value and importance of salt in the history of humanity and as a new art form, as well as to encourage the values utilized by other innovative artists working with different and extraordinary media.Werner, Bettina The Salt Queen Foundation 2002-2007
Reviews and features on her work have appeared in The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal,
Books Bettina Werner: Queen of Salt. Milan, Leonardo Arte, 1999.
Periodicals VV. AA. (1993): "An Exhibition of Work by Contemporary Italian Artists", Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art Magazine Gianluca Bauzano, (2000) "Bettina, The Manhattan Queen of Salt", Audry Magazine Gianluca Bauzano, (1998) "Artisti Italiani a New York", Amica Magazine Elisa Turner, (1991) "New Paintings by Bettina Werner", The Miami Herald Marta Citacov, (1996) "Bettina Werner, Toccare con mano", L'Uomo Vogue Francesca Bonazzoli, (1996) "Cristalli di sale nei colori di Bettina Werner", Corriere della Sera Giorgio Bonomi, (1998) "Spazio, colore, superficie nella pittura di Bettina Werner", Arte in Umbria Eleonora Attolico, (1998) "Americana per abilita' straordinarie", Soprattutto Eleonora Attolico, (1999) "Tibino, la mia musa fedele", L'Espresso Gina Avogadro, (1990) "Andiamo in barca al Museo", Il Giorno Irene Silverman, (2003) "Bettina Werner: The Queen of Salt", The East Hampton Star Antonio Carlucci, (2000) "Regina in mostra", L'Espresso Magazine Marta Citacov, (2003) "Se il padrone e' un divo", GQ Luisella Seveso, (2008) "Bettina, la Regina del Sale ha conquistato New York", Il Giorno Achille Bonito Oliva, (1991) "Bettina Werner at Marisa del Re Gallery New York", Flash Art, no.161 Maria Balliana (1989) "Bettina Werner, il sale dell'arte", Italia Oggi
References
External links Bettina-werner.com The Salt Queen Foundation I quadri di sale di Bettina Werner A Saline Mind, The Movement of Bettina Werner by Einstein Bettina Werner/ Herbert and Dorothy Vogel Collection Portrait of the Artist's Muse: For Italian-born artist Bettina Werner, inspiration is always spot-on thanks to her beloved Dalmatian TIBINO Bettina Werner e TIBINO. Chi sono? interview The Wall Street Journal PALACE OF THE SALT QUEEN by Sara Lin BETTINA WERNER - THE QUEEN OF SALT interview Bettina Werner - Art Exhibition at TIFFANY & Co. Werner ('The SALT Queen') To Exhibit At 7 World Trade Center Cristalli di sale nei colori di BETTINA WERNER. Al 49esimo piano del 7 World Trade Center una retrospettiva che celebra 25 anni di creazioni della "Queen of Salt" Lower Manhattan/ A Tea with Bettina Werner Lower Manhattan/ un te' con Bettina Werner Il Tributo della REGINA DEL SALE per l'11 settembre Bettina Werner, The Salt Queen amazing women rock Interview with Bettina Werner Interview with Bettina Werner on Patrick McMullan's PMc Magazine LA VOCE DI NEW YORK: Bettina Werner Bettina Werner, Regina "dell’oro bianco" a Venezia Bettina Werner presents her newest salt crystal art collection to empower women in the eloquent Wall Street Down Town Association Club Il sale della vita, il sale dell'arte. La mostra di Bettina Werner al Down Town Association Club BETTINA WERNER, l'arte che brilla come "oro bianco"