Volker Bartsch. The Berlin sculptor on his 60th birthday

Volker Bartsch, born in Goslar in 1953, is one of the most prominent German sculptors of his generation. On the occasion of his 60th birthday, the Berlin sculptor is being honoured at the Georg Kolbe Museum with a comprehensive exhibition focusing on his sculptural work and his work in public spaces. Volker Bartsch is best known to the general public for his ‘Ammonite Fountain’ from 1985-87 in front of the Elephant Gate at Berlin Zoo. A large number of other works by the artist can be found in public spaces, particularly in his creative centre in Berlin.

The exhibition at the Georg Kolbe Museum covers various phases of the artist’s work and begins with the organic-figurative bronzes of the 1980s, which culminate in the primeval formations of the ‘Ammonite Fountain’. Bartsch’s path to abstraction began in the 1990s with the use of coloured sheet iron, which he found as a collector in Berlin’s scrap yards. Massive wedges and pillars that support and penetrate each other form archaic constructions in his sculptures. In his work, the gate recurs as a form and symbol that invites the viewer to actively participate in walking around and through it. His compositions, which are compressed into impenetrable obstacles, also emphasise the physical experience of materials, with a particular fascination for surfaces. Welded seams or traces of the grinding machine refer to the working process of the sculptures. More recently, Bartsch has turned his attention to figuration, for example in the ‘Curse of Beauty’ series, which is dedicated to the grotesque transformation of the human face through the dubious blessings of the beauty industry. The majority of the works on display have been made available by the artist for the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue of Volker Bartsch’s sculptural work and the works in public space.