Heinz Höfchen: The Stelae - 2023
The Stelae - Heinz Höfchen, 2023
An important group of works in the oeuvre of the sculptor, graphic artist, and photographer Jochen Kitzbihler are his steles, which provide a concentrated, revealing insight into his evolving oeuvre. Kitzbihler's sculptural work begins in the early 1990s under the influence of his teacher, the Japanese sculptor Hiromi Akiyama, who fundamentally inspires his handling of mass, surface, and space, of empty spaces and polarities. Asian thought is also essential in the contemplative basic attitude of Kitzbihler's sculptures. He combines ideas of form from minimalist art in harmony with material and its natural specifications to an organically shaped concretion. An energetic connection with the natural is the starting point of his work.
In the region of the Upper Rhine, one finds a whole series of his large-scale works in public space. A particularly impressive grandiose example of his work is the monumental stele transversal made of different granites, namely Vosges granite and Black Forest granite: The stone blocks from both countries, arranged alternately like a spiral staircase, emphasize the common growth, even a stroll together, at the mount of the European Bridge in Kehl.
Stelae are the archaic momentum of the plastic, fundamentally anthropomorphic, since in their original form they reflect homo erectus plastically for the first time. Corresponding to this are wooden poles on which the heads of defeated enemies were presented, or, for example, totem poles as an expression of all that is existential. Common to the vertical forms is the pride of the upright, who shows his evolution from lying and sitting to standing and will forever carry this consciousness and express it in his art.
An important group of works in the oeuvre of the sculptor, graphic artist, and photographer Jochen Kitzbihler are his steles, which provide a concentrated, revealing insight into his evolving oeuvre. Kitzbihler's sculptural work begins in the early 1990s under the influence of his teacher, the Japanese sculptor Hiromi Akiyama, who fundamentally inspires his handling of mass, surface, and space, of empty spaces and polarities. Asian thought is also essential in the contemplative basic attitude of Kitzbihler's sculptures. He combines ideas of form from minimalist art in harmony with material and its natural specifications to an organically shaped concretion. An energetic connection with the natural is the starting point of his work.
In the region of the Upper Rhine, one finds a whole series of his large-scale works in public space. A particularly impressive grandiose example of his work is the monumental stele transversal made of different granites, namely Vosges granite and Black Forest granite: The stone blocks from both countries, arranged alternately like a spiral staircase, emphasize the common growth, even a stroll together, at the mount of the European Bridge in Kehl.
Stelae are the archaic momentum of the plastic, fundamentally anthropomorphic, since in their original form they reflect homo erectus plastically for the first time. Corresponding to this are wooden poles on which the heads of defeated enemies were presented, or, for example, totem poles as an expression of all that is existential. Common to the vertical forms is the pride of the upright, who shows his evolution from lying and sitting to standing and will forever carry this consciousness and express it in his art.
The basic form of the stélē - the Greek word for column or pillar - follows the early historical menhir, its development taking place via artifacts in raw human form to the schematized image of the human body, finally becoming the abstracted vertical form. It is precisely here that it becomes clear how concrete design is organically conceived. Connected to the existential, the stele also transports the idea of growth immanent to the organic and expresses in reference the masculine principle of fertility.
Kitzbihler's stelae are outstanding testimonies of concrete sculpture in the sense of a reduction of the handwritten in sculpture, on the other hand they captivate through a refined appropriation of the grown stone texture, often with a sublime surface, they seek the language in the material itself and its found form. Fine-grained gabbro rocks, quartz vein-streaked granodiorite, rough demolition edges, even an adopted spray point for marking are lifelike counterpoint to geometric-concrete design. In his sculptural work, Kitzbihler orders three-dimensional structures and, on a further level of reference, gives these orders a sensual life by aesthetic means.
In addition, the stelae in the context of the work are the starting point for a dynamic understanding of structure through his preoccupation with the concept of structure: Subsequently, Kitzbihler develops his artistic work into a transdisciplinary work with the central question Is Structure Transformation? through the consistent integration of scientific aspects.
He thus opens up the overall work to his in situ spatial installations. These joined arrangements, often made of collected, eroding clay-sand chunks and raw stones are extended by pictorial conceptions into landscape, geological as well as cosmic dimensions: they reflect and explain transformation processes that question and overcome concepts of space and time in perception.
Image: Cairn in the Cristallina area, San Gotthardo (Alps)