Günther Förg

Galerie Meyer-Hofmeister, Karlsruhe
Private Collection, Karlsruhe

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are spots of oxidisation and surface dirt, notably in the recesses and at the back of the leg.
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Seamlessly blending the solemn gravity of bronze and the lyrical symbolism of gestural mark making, Bein is an exceptionally poignant and profoundly eloquent testament of Günther Förg's idiosyncratic contribution to the trajectory of contemporary sculpture.

Driven by the desire to explore the transition from the pictorial to the phenomenological concept of space, by the mid-1980s Förg embarked on a sustained dialogue with the medium of sculpture. Initially comprised of plaster cast steles and reliefs that betray a close adherence to the rigorous geometric rationality and mathematical exactness of Minimalism, the artist's sculptural repertoire reached its zenith with the creation of freestanding bodily fragments such as the present work. Spanning a thematic prism of legs, torsos, hands and feet, these works powerfully allude to the classical fascination of the disassembled body and its symbolic potential. 

At once softly nuanced and streaked with dramatic gouges, scratches and grooves, the bronze surface evokes the texture of skin while concurrently retaining the bulges and perforations that reveal the indexical signs of the casting process. In its attempt to register the genesis of the creative process by bridging the gap of conception and execution, the present work bears striking similarity to the iconic performative mark making of Auguste Rodin, in particular his late works which are infused with unprecedented expressive force. A supreme synthesis of the preoccupation with the art-historically charged trope of the fragment as well as the penetrating psychological and emotive thrust of the disembodied and severed limbs that dominate the sculptural output of artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Bruce Nauman, Bein testifies to Förg’s bourgeoning relationship with the history of sculpture.

Masterfully straddling a wide range of media which stretches from painting to sculpture and photography, Günther Förg has forged an artistic practice of outmost complexity and unparalleled diversity. Engaging the viewer with the richness of its surface variations and unquestionably visceral presence, Bein marks the apogee of the conceptual and philosophical investigations that lie at the heart of the artist's oeuvre.