Exhibition - An der Oberfläche_On Surface, Lehmbruck Museum

The Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg explores the surface as a carrier of meaning in sculpture. The exhibition titled An der Oberfläche_On Surface is a journey from Rodin to De Bruyckere to understand where the surface of an artwork takes us and what ideas it shows us. 


(Jeppe Hein_Rotating Labyrinth_Foto_Dejan Saric)

The Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, Germany offers an unusual collection of modern international sculptures. When the building was designed in 1964 by Manfred Lehmbruck, son of renowned German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck who gave this museum its name and the basis of its collection, it was divided into two bodies united by the sculpture park extending towards Kant Park. A third body was added to the museum in 1987.


(Auguste Rodin, Eva, 1881, Foto Städel Museum.jpg)

From 2 July to 23 October, the Lehmbruck Museum is hosting an exhibition called “On Surface” presenting a wide range of sculptures starting from 19th century works by Auguste Rodin, Medardo Rosso and Wilhelm Lehmbruck through to the 20th century artworks by Berlinde de Bruyckere and Georg Baselitz, just to mention some of the sculptors being exhibited and it explores the surface and its meaning in sculpture: Where does the surface of an artwork lead? What do our eyes see, what is our impression? What does the surface tell us about the process of creation, by the hand of the artist? What ideas does the outer shell of a work of art inspire and what hides beneath the surface?


(Jeppe Hein, “Chakra Mirror Balloons I”, 2015, Photo by Studio Jeppe Hein, Courtesy of KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin, 303 Gallery, New York and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen_.jpg)


(Julian Opie. Ann dancing in sequined dress. 2009. Continuous computer animation on 52_ LCD screen. Crop. (c) Julian Opie, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016.jpg)

Questions that take us to another highly topical theme, namely Webcreativity where the surface moves from real to virtual. As Paolo Schianchi writes (link) about this: “We can say (…) that the agreed meaning of the term (surface) refers to the very outer part of a body or an object”. Given that “the space and the body (can only be narrated) through the space and the bodies themselves” perhaps sculptures are the most tangible form of an artistic creativity that consigns most of its message to the surface.


(Medardo Rosso La Portinaia 1883 1884 Foto Dejan Saric)

Because depending on their configuration, surfaces are full of different meanings, they are our first point of contact, they engage us, they beckon us to observe, to understand and to interpret. A bit like when we see a post on the web, except that at the Lehmbruck Museum we can create our image at a fixed moment in time, marked by the real presence of the sculptures, without getting lost in the timelessness of the constantly processed surface of the web.


(Jeppe Hein_Rotating Labyrinth_Foto_Dejan Saric)

At the same time as On Surface, as part of the “Sculpture 21st” series, the museum hall is exhibiting the kinetic, interactive installation called “Rotating Labyrinth” by Danish artist Jeppe Hein, pioneer of a new, playful concept of contemporary sculpture. 

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition An der Oberfläche_On Surface
From Rodin to De Bruyckere
The surface as a carrier of meaning in sculpture
from 2 July to 23 October 2016
Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
Images: Medardo Rosso La Portinaia 1883 1884 Foto Dejan Saric, Jeppe Hein, “Chakra Mirror Balloons I”, 2015, Photo by Studio Jeppe Hein, Courtesy of KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin, 303 Gallery, New York and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen_.jpg, Auguste Rodin, Eva, 1881, Foto Städel Museum.jpg, Julian Opie. Ann dancing in sequined dress. 2009. Continous computer animation on 52_ LCD screen. Crop. (c) Julian Opie, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016.jpg
Jeppe Hein_Rotating Labyrinth_Foto_Dejan Saric (1).jpg, Jeppe Hein_Rotating Labyrinth_Foto_Dejan Saric (2).jpg, Jeppe Hein_Rotating Labyrinth_Foto_Dejan Saric (3).jpg
Ulteriori informazioni: http://www.lehmbruckmuseum.de/