In Dialogue with the Earth

For eighteen years now, the brick sculpture »Gießen« connects two building complexes of the Justus Liebig University as a built metaphor of those transmission processes of nature that Per Kirkeby has been interested in since his studies, that is to say, the journey from sediment to culture and back again. This simple formula could be to the point, according to statements by Kirkeby who holds a doctorate in geology. In his sculptures, Per Kirkeby later notably propagated the examination of meander which he had already devoted himself to in his Masonite paintings. In his gouaches, particularly those of the 1990s, he developed images of the natural flow of materials, forms and colours that are much more free in gesture, although even here, the main emphasis is unmistakably on the order of materiality and colour. This volume allows a small but rather excellently selected overview of Per Kirkeby’s paintings, as well as his sculptural work.

Exhibition:
Kunsthalle Gießen, 11/5–31/8/2014