Markus Lüpertz
Pietrasanta bronces
Markus Lüpertz, one of the most significant painters of the 20th century, exhibits for the 3rd time at Galerie Terminus.
Lüpertz’ bronze sculptures are the professional result of an idiosyncratic plastic improvisation; as a rule, their patina is the work of the painter, not a product of the weather. Lüpertz’ aim is to translate avant-garde object art back into the traditional terms of bronze casting, while continuing to embrace the avant-garde principle of innovation. His six sculptures underline the character of the project. Lengths of bamboo, pieces of coarse cloth, a heavy iron grille, an old cylinder-head, thin wooden planks, long nails, a discarded oil-drum: these and many more such objects are essential components of the works. The objects could have been gathered from garbage tips or junkyards. Their forms constitute points of spatial or structural emphasis, while retaining their original raw concreteness.
Each of the sculptures consists of a figure, which tends towards the abstract-or conflicts, at least, with conventional notions of beauty-and an opposing accretion of forms which are predominantly abstract but tend, in turn, towards the figurative. The importance of the human figure is emphasized via the titles, which label the forms clearly as a man, a woman, a nude, a gardener, an odalisque, or an actor.
