Jan Köthe

Jan Köthe (born December 6, 1965 in Bonn ) is a German stainless steel sculptor, action and installation artist.

life and work

Köthe grew up in Dortmund as the son of an art teacher. From 1993 to 1999 he studied with Horst Linn , Margareta Hesse and Jürgen Zänker in the field of object design with a focus on art at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences .

Köthe dealt early on with the design of everyday objects and metal experiments. In 1993, before his studies, he received a design award from Casa Munich for a steel chair. As part of a study project with Horst Linn , he carried out an action on steel deformation for the first time. A welded and lead-filled pyramid sculpture was given a randomly changed basic shape due to the free fall from a height of 12 meters. During the study period acquired Köthe a 30-ton hydraulic press , which he henceforth for his sculptures and sculptures of stainless steel began. The special technology of sensitively controlled cold forming was the basis of a new approach. It allows simple industrial products to be changed intuitively into three-dimensional objects with dynamic aesthetics. As a result, a large number of free-standing sculptures were created whose rigid materiality contrasts with the organic form. Individual works receive specific statements that have a socio-cultural background through the gestures they show.

In 2001 the ToleranzKreuz made of stainless steel was created, which today stands in front of the Arent-Rupe-House of the Evangelical Church Community in Dortmund-Brackel. The abstract depiction of a person with open arms calls for tolerance towards all peaceful cultures and religions on the occasion of the Islamist-based attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York .

An example of the mainly aesthetically influenced works is the homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude , created in 2005. In this work the artist processes his impressions of the wrapping of the Reichstag , especially the tying and folding of the fabrics. The stainless steel gets the appearance of a flowing textile , which is surprising for the haptics of the material.

With the KulturQuadrate campaign , Köthe repeatedly seeks contact with the public space by including passers-by in the work. He asks you to write a certain topic word in your national language on a canvas. By examining the existing lettering, the participants are encouraged to think about the importance of the word in other cultures.

Through numerous exhibitions and acquisitions, Köthe first made a name for himself in the North Rhine-Westphalian region. In 2002 he took part as a guest artist at Documenta 11 in Kassel . The KulturQuadrat "Tolerance", which is dedicated to the anniversary of the attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 , was created in front of the Museum Fridericianum . In 2007 Köthe received an international art award from the Art-Isotope Gallery in Dortmund. 16 years after the first public solo exhibition in the Dortmund studio in 1995, he ended his work in Dortmund with the exhibition "ENDE". This was the first time his installation “Emoticon Icon” was on the subject of weapons and the glorification of violence. With the approval of the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia and the State Criminal Police Office , Köthe acquired confiscated firearms, which he defused himself under the supervision of a security officer with minimal interference by his press and used them in the installation.

The artist has lived and worked in Berlin since 2011 . As the first public action on site, he carried out the KulturQuadrat action “11. September ”in front of the American Embassy and the Brandenburg Gate .

Works and actions (selection)

• 1996: Action art KulturQuadrat "1qm dignity (full)", downtown Dortmund
• 2000: "Communication", Route of Industrial Culture - Gut Schede, Wetter / Ruhr
• 2002: "Upwards", Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, Herdecke
• 2002: KulturQuadrat “Tolerance”, for Documenta 11 on September 11th, in front of the Museum Fridericianum , Kassel
• 2003: "Tolerance Cross-Human", ev. Church Dortmund-Brackel, Dortmund
• 2004: "Male sound object", Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, Herdecke
• 2006: “Entelechie V”, City Gallery Dortmund, Torhaus Rombergpark, art purchase, City of Dortmund collection
• 2007: “Cut Circle”, art purchase from the City of Dortmund collection
• 2008: “Homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude IX”, Dortmund Art Library, purchase of Artothek Dortmund
• 2010: “Homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude XI”, art purchase from the city of Dortmund

Exhibitions (selection)

• 2002: 17th IFC - World Forge Congress Euroforge, special exhibition, Cologne
• 2004: Nam June Paik Award, guest of the artist Lucien Samaha (New York), Phoenixhalle Dortmund
• 2005: Atelier exhibition - 10 years Jan Köthe, deformation in object and photography, 10 years Christo + Jeanne-Claude, wrapped Reichstag, homage and documentation, Dortmund
• 2006: Mixed Media II, Galerie König, Münster
• 2008: Galerie Art-Isotope, award winner exhibition 2007, Dortmund
• 2009: 2nd Sculpture Salon, Münster
• 2010: Ruhr 2010, Strong Places, Herne
• 2010: Museum Ostwall, Orange, Dortmund
• 2010: City Gallery Dortmund, Torhaus Rombergpark, art purchase, City of Dortmund collection
• 2011: Atelier exhibition "ENDE - Jan Köthe in Dortmund 1995-2011"

Awards

• 1993: Design award, Casa, Munich
• 2002: Werner Richard Award - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, Herdecke
• 2004: Werner Richard Award - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, Herdecke
• 2007: 2nd International Art Prize Winner, ART-Isotope Gallery, Dortmund
• 2015: Winner Revierkunst, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund

literature

• Klimt, Andreas: Kürschner's Handbook of Visual Artists 2007 . Walter de Gruyter publishing house, Berlin. ISBN 978-3-598-24737-8

media

• Silke Hempel: Jan Köthe - An artist portrait In: WDR-Fs. Blickpunkt NRW , January 14, 2002
• Christian Busse: Carnival is culture - The caricature sculpture In: WDR 5, Scala - Current issues from culture , Radiobeitr. with Steven Sloane , February 23, 2004

Web links

• official website of the artist
• Culture database: Jan Köthe

Individual evidence

1. ^ " Cross-man as a cultural symbol " In: Westfälische Rundschau , November 30, 2001.
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. KulturQuadrat Himmel as part of the station mission day on April 23, 2005 in Dortmund.  
3. ↑ Kirstin Dieckerhoff: A sign of tolerance against terror . In: Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine Zeitung , September 12, 2002
4. ↑ http://www.art-isotope.de/art-spanner/page5/page5.html Award winner ART-spanner, Gallery Art-Isotope, Dortmund 2007. Accessed on November 16, 2011.
5. ^ Tilman Abegg: Sculptor Jan Köthe designs installation with weapons In: Ruhr Nachrichten , April 14, 2011. Accessed November 24, 2011.
6. ↑ Kai-Uwe Brinkmann: Exciting Objects In: Ruhr Nachrichten , October 16, 2007
7. ↑ https://www.derwesten.de/staedte/dortmund/kultur/schwere-arbeit-leichter-anblick-id4559254.html Nadin Albach: Heavy work, light sight In: WAZ , April 18, 2011. Accessed November 24 2011.
8. ↑ Thilo Wagner: Stainless steel sculpture flashing in the sunlight In: Westfälische Rundschau , September 14, 2002.
9. ↑ Elisabeth Semme: Steel object shows the way to culture In: Westfalenpost , September 14, 2002.
10. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Selection of loanable exhibits in the Artothek with a picture of the sculpture 
11. ↑ http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/bilder/fotostrecken/detail/cme106009,2414068 Photo gallery for the exhibition