Wolfgang Binding

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Wolfgang Binding (* 1937 in Munich ) is a German sculptor and graphic artist .

Live and act

Born in Munich but raised in Cologne , Wolfgang Binding, brother of the later art historian Günther Binding , began an apprenticeship as a sculptor and stonemason at the Cologne cathedral building after graduating from high school in 1957 . He then moved to the Düsseldorf Art Academy , where he studied sculpture from 1959 to 1963 as a master student of Zoltan Székessy . Shortly before the end of this phase of study, Binding was awarded the Ernst Poensgen Prize of the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1962 and the Cologne City Prize for Sculpture in 1963. With the help of a DAAD scholarship, he was able to deepen his studies abroad at the universities of Alexandria and Cairo over the next two years .

After his return, Binding worked from 1965 to 1975 as an assistant to Elmar Hillebrand , whom he had known from his time at the Cologne Dombauhütte, at the Faculty of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University . After completing his habilitation in plastic in 1973, he initially took on a visiting professorship at Northern Michigan University in 1975 and 1976 and was then appointed full professor of sculpture in his previous faculty. After his retirement in 1993, Binding settled as a freelance artist in Eynatten , Belgium . There he set up a studio that is part of the "Art Route Weser-Göhl".

Playing horses, Aachen
Play and adventure fountain, Bergheim

The focus of Binding's practical work was the creation of sculptures, fountains and monuments for several cities in Germany and Switzerland. He expresses his enthusiasm and appreciation for all living beings in a wide range of numerous animal and human figures. He always depicts humans and animals in completely natural and at the same time very own postures and not in a posed pose. Especially in his expressive depictions of animals with their naturalistic , irregular surfaces, a certain lightness and even mischievousness is reflected. Even his large-scale sculpture of the playing horses for the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen still looks lively and elegant. On the other hand, the large goat sculpture that was bought by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City has stability and strength .

A large part of his artistic work, including the numerous colored graphics and drawings that, like sketches, had often preceded his sculptural work, Binding exhibited again and again and increasingly in galleries at home and abroad after his retirement. In addition to regular participation in exhibitions by Cologne artists in the Kölnischer Kunstverein and the Bergischer Künstlerkreis, his work could be viewed in Bensberg, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Göttingen and at the Northern Michigan University gallery. He often sends the exhibitions together with renowned artists and, in recent years, preferably with his daughter Stephanie Binding , who also studied sculpture and printmaking in Bremen and Vienna and has been an artistic assistant at the chair for visual design at RWTH Aachen University since 2008.

Wolfgang Binding is also a member of Rotary International's Aachen regional club . For the annual language tournament of the high schools in the Aachen area organized by the Aachen Rotary Club, he specially designed the sculpture, which is intended as a challenge award and which has already been won twice by the Pius-Gymnasium Aachen .

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1974: Wolfgang Binding and Willy Gallinowski , Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum , Aachen
  • 1980: Sculptures , Leopold Hoesch Museum , Düren
  • 2002: Summer gallery Fieberbrunn , Tyrol
  • 2006: Wolfgang Binding (sculpture and drawing) and Stephanie Binding (graphics) , Galerie Incontro, Eitorf / Sieg
  • 2006: The small art window - Wolfgang Binding (sculptures) and Peter Loew (painting) , RRB Hochfilzen , Tyrol
  • 2007: Wolfgang Binding (sculptures) and Rudolf Schmidt (painting) , Galerie Reimus, Essen
  • 2008: Animal views , anniversary exhibition Galerie Reimus, Essen
  • 2008: Wolfgang Binding (sculptures and drawings) and Stephanie Binding (graphics and drawings) , Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld
  • 2010: Wolfgang Binding (sculptures) and Werner Zöhl (painting) , Galerie Reimus, Essen
  • 2011: Sculpture Summer, Galerie Depelmann, Langenhagen
  • 2018/2019: Lively Form - bronzes and drawings, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen

Works (selection)

  • Herwart Opitz , bust in the foyer of the WZL machine tool laboratory at RWTH Aachen University , 1979
  • Saint George , Aachen, 1980
  • Bärbelchen , Alsdorf, 1982
  • Pony guide , Aachen Zoo, 1983
  • Play and adventure fountain , Bergheim, 1984
  • Donkey rider , Stolberg, 1986
  • Duck catcher , Aachen Zoo, 1986
  • Cow boy pushes cow , Aachen-Eilendorf fountain, 1988
  • Matthias Overstolzen , figure on the tower of Cologne City Hall , 1990s
  • Gerhard Overstolzen , figure on the tower of Cologne City Hall, 1990s
  • Playing horses , Aachen, 2006

  • Duck catcher, Aachen zoo

  • Pony guide, Aachen Zoo

  • Cow pushing, Eilendorf

  • St. Georg, Police Headquarters Aachen

Literature and Sources

  • Wolfgang Binding: Overview of works 1997 - 1999 , Frank-Thomas Gaulin (German / English), Verlag Depelmann, Langenhagen, 1999, ISBN 3-928330-33-0
  • Wolfgang Binding: Overview of works II 1979 - 1999 , Verlag Depelmann, Langenhagen, 1999
  • Wolfgang Binding: Overview of works 1999 - 2002 , Verlag Depelmann, Langenhagen, 2003.
  • Wolfgang Binding: overview of his bronzes drawings 2005 - 2008 , introduction by Hans Holländer, Verlag Depelmann, Langenhagen, 2009, ISBN 3-928330-50-0
  • Wolfgang Binding: Sculptures , catalog on the occasion of the exhibition in May 1992 in the INTER ART GALERIE REICH, Cologne.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Binding  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Art route Weser-Göhl
  2. ↑ Playing horses Aachen ( Memento from February 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Brief portrait of Stephanie Binding ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Group exhibition: Wolfgang Binding - sculpture and drawing / Stefanie Binding - graphic ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  5. ^ Exhibition Galerie Heiden & Partner, Krefeld (PDF; 54 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Binding, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich