Press release
Michael Werner Gallery in Cologne is please to present an exhibition of sculptures and drawings by the artist Markus Lüpertz (b. 1941 in Liberec, Böhmen) from April 25 to June 7, 2003. The theme of the works is „Aphrodite“, godess of beauty, born of the sea.
The focal point of the sculptures, to which some small models belong, is the larger-than-life figure „Aphrodite“, which caused a sensation in Augsburg during the last two years. The figure, originally created for a fountain, was made by the artist specifically for the Ulrichs-Kathedral, but it never was installed there. The sculpture was a gift of the editor of the Augsburger general newspaper, Mrs. Ellinor Holland, to her hometown. As a result of public protest, however, the figure, which was temporarily installed at the city hall, was removed in November 2002. The reason for the public outcry was the deviation of this particular Greek goddess from the classical ideal of beauty, as it is traditionally represented in the Venus of Milo or the figures of Praxiteles, Botticelli or Titian.
With this over-sized sculpture, Markus Lüpertz has formulated a new interpretation of „Aphrodite“, a subject which has been represented in the history of art throughout the centuries. Lüpertz has created the 21st century version of „Aphrodite“ which in this case represents an enormous, living, ageless woman, equipped with a fleshy, direct physicality. In an animalistic way, she exhibits her attractions and her internal beauty like an unpolished diamond. Her rough features appeal to the haptic consciousness of the viewer and indicate nativeness. Her enormous body, colored like the earth, which was born from a small blue shell, is reminiscent of the ample female forms of the Venus of Willendorf or the round baroque figures of Rubens. Particulary impressive is her face, which is colored in contrast to the body, and superproportional. With fresh red cheeks and lips, and bright blue eyes, the goddess of beauty and love brings voluptuousness into this world. The impressive colored head is exhibited also as an independent work in the exhibition, as a fragment of the 240 cm large full-body figure. The large sculptures will be accompanied by numerous drawings and small figures, designed in alive manner.
Markus Luepertz who has been a professor since 1986 and a rector since 1988 at the National Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf, lives and works in Berlin, Duesseldorf and Karlsruhe.
The artist will be present for the opening, where he will celebrate his 62nd birthday.
A full-color catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
