Georg-Friedrich Wolf

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Georg-Friedrich Wolf (born July 11, 1962 in Freiburg ) is a German steel sculptor . His artistic focus is monumental installations with the material steel to contemporary issues.

Life and artistic focus

Georg-Friedrich Wolf lives and works on Bergstrasse and in Darmstadt .

As a teenager he made his first artistic experiences in photography and learned to work with steel. After his high school diploma and the journeyman's examination, two years of wandering followed, which took him to Israel , USA , Pakistan and India. In 1990 Wolf opened his studio and steel construction company on the Habitzheim estate in the Odenwald ( Hesse ).

In addition to commissioned work in architecture , design and restoration , Wolf devoted himself to the free artistic creation of sculptures and installations. Wolf realized his first works in public space in his early years. This includes works in secular architecture , in church construction , as well as prominent restorations and reconstructions. Following his vision, Wolf's work is always strongly shaped by a fascination for his material, but also by respect for the material. He regards his ability to shape steel as a privilege in the formulation of his sculptural themes. The latter are often designed in large dimensions. His travels to the Orient and Occident , the study of history , religion , culture and technology are reflected in his works.

“Through my travels in the Arab world, Asia and India, as well as my interest in history, I have dealt with questions of communication , human history, international understanding and tolerance .” In addition to the cultural-historical aspects, there are current questions of coexistence and tolerance on the controllability of nature and the limits of growth that Wolf's works tell of.

In principle, his works are abstract, but always reflect events in which the viewer should participate. Wolf always seeks dialogue with the viewer. In the late 1990s, it is industrial materials, the play of forces and deconstruction that shape his sculptures. Later, his works begin to convey more and more stories in which his material significantly conveys the message or is itself a decisive part of the message.

These stories reflect the confrontation between man and nature - man and man - man and material - man and technology and essentially meet art form and living space . A special feature of Wolf's works is the high quality of execution. His sculptures are perfectly processed, with finely calculated proportions and surfaces with a strong character. As a steel sculptor , Wolf uses decades of experience with his material in a targeted manner. In January 2019 Georg-Friedrich Wolf moved into Hall 109 on the former tavern in the historic industrial area of Darmstadt. In Wolf's new place of work there is space for a studio, production and exhibition .

“I look at my own works in a completely new way, I can take a few steps back, change perspective, or just leave a work standing. It's not just an extension in any sense, it's a way of coming home, ”says Wolf.

Exhibitions (selection)

Works in public space (selection)

  • Merck Darmstadt headquarters entrance hall: Sculpture (mobile) of an Archimedean screw
  • "Campino" high-rise in Darmstadt: crop circle sculpture on the roof. This sculpture from 2014 was returned to its original location in 2017 after a landmark ruling by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court , as its location on the roof of the high-rise building was part of the original artistic concept. The 7-meter-wide sculpture made of gilded Murano glass mosaics, the artistic effect of which is greatly enhanced by the morning sunlight, was initially removed by the new owner of the high-rise.

Church interior (examples)

Installations

  • 2014: The Missing Piece project - Strandgut : a group of sculptures installed on the rough coast of the North Atlantic: the focus is on a wooden ball encased in steel strips, with forged nails protruding from it - a recurring motif by Wolf. The installation includes a film with a story about the discovery of this "wreck".
  • 2016: Project Shipsoul  : Sculpture, erected together with the Indian painter Ratnadeep Gopal Adivrekar on the beach of Alang in India, a ship dismantling area , from 4.5 tons of steel scrap.
  • 2016/17: Project Odyssey (or Raft ), set up in winter 2016/17 on the grounds of the House of World Cultures in Berlin. This installation was built with the active help of refugees. Refugees also forged the numerous nails used on the sculpture in the forge in Habitzheim, which play an essential role in Wolf's pictorial idea: as permanent parts in the transitory environment of other materials such as rotting wood. The monumental sculpture (height 9 meters, weight approx. 7 tons) first came to the Documenta Hall in Kassel in 2018, in order to be exhibited in other places in Germany
Installation Odyssey at the first location near the Berlin Chancellery

Restorations

  • Wedding tower in Darmstadt: restoration of the tower hood and new bronze coat of arms at the entrance portal
  • Art Nouveau bath in Darmstadt: new production of the historical brass lights (2011)
  • Löwentor (reliefs by Bernhard Hoetger ) to Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt

literature

Article in: UBI BENE (Mannheimer Morgen) Winter 2015, p. 96, Iron Age Georg-Friedrich Wolfs Stahlplastiken

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Exhibition catalog the Missing Piece Wolf for the exhibition November 14th - November 29th, 2012
  2. ↑ Darmstädter Echo August 20, 2015 Pointing a finger on the Alpe di Siusi
  3. ↑ Darmstädter Echo January 16, 2017 Return with obstacles
  4. ↑ FAZ January 14, 2017 The "Kornkreiskrone" returns
  5. ↑ Booklet Wolf The Missing Piece Sehnsucht , Budersand Hotel Hörnum
  6. ↑ Darmstädter Echo March 1, 2016 The spirit of old ocean liners
  7. ↑ Integrative Art Performance , press release for the production of the Odyssey 2016, wolf-werk.com
  8. ↑ Darmstädter Echo November 9, 2016 The raft at the Chancellery
  9. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 23 October 2017, p. 36 The Odyssey goes on a journey
  10. ^ Darmstädter Echo April 16, 2008 New city arms for the portal
personal data
SURNAME Wolf, Georg-Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German steel sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg