Walter Schembs

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Walter Schembs next to his sculpture Der Lesende , on the right the gallery owner Claus Netuschil

Walter Schembs (born August 18, 1956 in Worms ) is a German sculptor.

Life

Schembs was born in Worms in 1956 as the son of a cooper and a master wagon maker. The workshop of his father and grandfather probably had a formative influence on his further life. After finishing school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship to work in his father's company. After the death of his father he worked as a dental technician, where he made his first experiences with metal casting. In the 1980s he restored listed houses in the region around Worms. From 1983 to 1985 he completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter, which brought him closer to his calling as a sculptor. From 1985 to 1992 he ran a furniture restoration in his own workshop. In 1986 he created his first wooden sculptures. In 1994 his sculptures were presented for the first time at Art Cologne .

He has been a freelance sculptor since 1992. He lives and works in a listed building in Worms-Herrnsheim . From 1995 to 1998 he renovated the Schillerturm in the palace gardens of Herrnsheim Palace . In 1996 he co-founded the artist group “Blickachse Worms” with an art exhibition of the same name that takes place every three years in the Herrnsheim Palace Park.

Works

The focus of his work is on large-format wood and bronze sculptures. The sculptural work of Walter Schembs has been determined by the figures sawn and beaten from wood and the head since 1990. Certain motifs appear again and again in his works. On the one hand, these are steles reduced to basic shapes. From 1997 the so-called chair people are added. Other popular motifs are horse and rider as well as couples. Schembs prefers to use old beams or sleepers from half-timbered houses and other found objects. The main types of wood used are oak and poplar. Schembs made neither models nor preliminary sketches for his sculptures. The sculptures are carved out of the wood using a chainsaw, hatchet, adze and chisel. Despite the changing medium, the bronze works always remain recognizable as genuine wood-carving products. The metal cast offers a possibility to put wood sculptural works permanently outdoors. Due to the high quality of the bronze casting, all traces of processing that are characteristic of wooden sculptures are preserved. The types of wood used can even be recognized from the precise casts. Traces of paint applied after patination, which imitate the tear marks on the original with oil pastel, complete the puzzle in the eye of the beholder in Schemb's sculptures. The casts are made with the lost wax process by a foundry in Mainz-Kastel; in editions of three, five, but mostly seven copies. Since many of the works are heavily undercut, it is necessary to cast in several parts. The individual parts are put together after the casting and the seams are adapted to the surrounding structures after grinding by chasing so that they become almost invisible after patination. The patina, which is atypical for bronze, is remarkable. Sulfur liver , iron sulfate and iron nitrate produce more of the effect of an iron plastic.

Exhibitions

Since the early 1990s, Schembs took part in many sculpture symposiums at home and abroad and was involved in numerous exhibitions. Since 1994 he has shown his sculptures in numerous solo exhibitions, especially in southern Germany.

Works in public space can be seen in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Hanau, Kusel, Wiesbaden, Worms, Würzburg and Helsinki, among others.

Honors

  • 2005: Art Prize of the City of Walldorf .

literature

  • Bronze. Walter Schembs 95-03 . Verlag Bildkunst, Bonn 2003
  • Walter Schembs: Walter Schembs - Holzmenschen 93-99 , Speyer 2000.
  • Walter Schembs: Sculptures , 2010
  • Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007
  2. ↑ Hans Gercke: In search of traces in Worms. In: Walter Schembs: Sculptures. , 2010, pp. 6-23.
  3. ↑ Claus K. Netuschil in: Bronze. Walter Schembs 95-03. Verlag Bildkunst, Bonn 2003
  4. ↑ Claus K. Netuschil in: Bronze. Walter Schembs 95-03. Verlag Bildkunst, Bonn 2003
  5. ^ Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007
  6. ↑ Claus K. Netuschil in: Bronze. Walter Schembs 95-03. Verlag Bildkunst, Bonn 2003
  7. ^ Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007
  8. ^ Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007
  9. ^ Walter Schembs - "Ross + Reiter", catalog for the 25th anniversary of the Zweibrücken Art Association, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Schembs, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Worms