Gil Topaz

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Gil Topaz (born May 16, 1965 as Martin Petz in Würzburg ) is a German sculptor.

life and work

Gil Topaz grew up in Lower Franconia . From 1989 to 2000 he lived in Italy and studied sculpture at the State Academies of Fine Arts in Carrara and Rome . In 1994 he graduated with distinction in Rome. Influenced by Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival the sculptor produced the work series "Knight and Grail." It was shown in a national solo exhibition for the first time in 1992 at the Galerie Gres in Frankfurt. Topaz then dealt mainly with heads. In 1995 he received the commission for the bronze portrait of the Italian film director Sergio Leone ( Play me the song of death ) for his mausoleum in Pratica di Mare near Rome. The artist made a second version of the portrait in terracotta for the private collection of the Leone family. In 1996 he met the Basel gallery owner Otmar Triebold. In the same year, the influential art dealer exhibited a series of expressive stone heads by the sculptor at Art Cologne . Characteristic for the heads of this creative period were "injuries" inflicted with a hammer and chisel on the facial features. Also in 1996, the name Gil Topaz was entered in the passport with which the artist has been exhibiting and trading since then. The following year, Triebold showed the sculptor's new heads at Art-Basel. In 1998 the size of the natural stone heads became larger, the facial features such as nose and mouth disappeared completely. At the same time he began to make life-size, red-painted concrete figures with “Schattenmänner”. The new works were shown in a solo exhibition at the Goethe Institute in Rome in 1999 .

In 2000 Gil Topaz left Rome and moved to Berlin. For the next few years he mainly worked in Germany. He created seven large figures for the entrance hall of Deutsche Telekom's International Net Management Center in Frankfurt am Main. He was also interested in Romanesque architecture. He took up the working conditions of medieval sculptors and masters with his performance "in situ". Two figures were created in public space in Würzburg and Weimar . From 2002 the concrete figures became slimmer and finer, the aggressive colors slowly gave way to earth and brown tones. In 2003 he was selected for the "XXXIII Forme nel Verde" in San Quirico d'Orcia, following well-known artists such as Giò Pomodoro , Francesco Somaini and Giacomo Manzù . Under the patronage of the German embassy in Italy, he showed new characters in a solo exhibition. The invitation to the Swiss Triennial of Sculpture in Bad Ragaz followed in the same year. From the mid-2000s the artist felt cramped in Berlin and moved back to Italy. Until 2011 he lived alternately in Carrara and Alsace , where the Swiss entrepreneur and art patron Georges Frey made a studio available to him. From 2004 to 2009, the sculptor mainly devoted himself to two major projects. The first was “La Resurrezione” for the Suter Art Collection in Tuscany. After a fresco by Luca Signorelli in Orvieto Cathedral , he staged 38 life-size concrete figures in Roccatederighi in a three-dimensional and contemporary interpretation. The confrontation and examination of the old masters of art history also found expression in his second major project. With “Thoughts” he created eight monumental natural stone heads weighing up to twelve tons around the Mediterranean, in Egypt , Syria , Turkey , Greece , Italy , France , Spain and Portugal . The sculptor always created the works on site, where they were also permanently installed. Back in Germany, he gave the city of Kevelaer two figures for the inner courtyard of the concert hall.

Gil Topaz only survived eye surgery in 2010 with limited vision. The sculptor had to adapt to the circumstances and in the following years worked on reduced and simpler forms. Nevertheless, he pushed his exhibition activity. The series of works “Stille Formen” was shown at three exhibitions in 2012. These were the 5th Swiss Triennial of Sculpture, as well as the solo exhibitions in the Swiss Gallery Pesko and the Franck-Haus in Marktheidenfeld. The series of works “Meteorites” was exhibited in the art gallery Grande Finale near Colmar . As of 2013, eyesight improved significantly. The artist was able to devote himself to the subject of "head" again. He produced the series “Poets, Thinkers and Rulers” and exhibited it in Switzerland . After his full recovery, he started working on characters again. From 2015 to 2017 Gil Topaz created seven life-size marble figures for the park of Wendhausen Castle in Lehrer , Lower Saxony . Gil Topaz lives in his studio in the countryside in Baden-Württemberg .

Works in public space

literature

  • Laura Cherubini: The master of stones. Catalog Gil Topaz. Triebold Gallery, Basel 1996.
  • Elena de Luca: The soul in the stone. Catalog Topaz. Galerie Triebold, Basel 1997.
  • Marco di Capua: shadow men. Exhibition catalog Topaz. Dipla Verlag, Marktheidenfeld 1999.
  • Klaus Wolbert: Seven figures for the INMC Center in Frankfurt. Catalog. Dipla Verlag, 2000.
  • Mario Guidotti: Forme nel Verde. Catalogo Mostra agli Horti Leonini. Don Chisciotte Publishing House, San Quirico d´Orcia, Italy 2003.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Ritter und Grail" in the Galerie Gres , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), June 26, 1992.
  2. ↑ The artist gives expression to faces - works by Gil Topaz , by Maria Gehrig, Fränkische Nachrichten, February 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Il ruolo storico del cimitero di Pratica di Mare , Il Pontino. November 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Catalog Art-Cologne, 1996.
  5. ↑ Catalog Art-Basel, 1997.
  6. ^ Commuters between Franconia and Italy , Main Post, June 21, 2012.
  7. ^ Art conception , T-Systems, International Net Management Center Frankfurt am Main, 2001.
  8. ^ Topaz and his outdoor studio , Würzburger Volksblatt, June 3, 2000.
  9. ↑ Gli uomini senza volto del inglese Gil Topaz agli Horti Leonini , Il Corriere della Versilia, 23 August 2003.
  10. ^ Catalog, II. Swiss Triennial of Sculpture, Bad Ragartz, editors Esther and Rolf Hohmeister, 2003.
  11. ↑ Mysticism of being human - the sculptures by Gil Topaz make contact , by Ralph Heringlehner, Main Post, February 2, 2018.
  12. ↑ Eight monumental stones in eight countries, “Streams of Thoughts” by the sculptor Gil Topaz , by Tanja Radan, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, October 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ Topaz gives the city of Kevelaer "Two Men", Niederrhein Nachrichten, 25 February 2009.
  14. ↑ The sculptures return , by Regula Sandi, St. Galler Tagblatt, February 3, 2011.
  15. ↑ The sculptor Gil Topaz shows his second exhibition in the Galerie Pesko , Südostschweiz Zeitung, December 29, 2011.
  16. ↑ Gil Topaz - The quiet clarity of form , by Martin Harth, Main Post, June 27, 2012.
  17. ^ Catalog Gil Topaz - Meteoriten, Grande Finale, art fabric freland, 2012.
  18. ^ Exhibition Hong Yi and Gil Topaz , Südostschweiz Zeitung, December 27, 2013.
  19. ↑ Schloss Wendhausen: Insider tip for art lovers , Wolfsburger Allgemeine, February 15, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Topaz, Gil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Topaz; Petz, Martin (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Wurzburg