13 Apr 2015

'Blickachsen 10' is taking shape – First artworks are in place

The preparations for 'Blickachsen 10' are in full swing. In order to give one of Europe's largest open-air exhibitions its final form in time for the opening on 31 May, curator Christian K. Scheffel and his team are working with tireless commitment. The sculptures, which comprise works by young artists as well as by established names, all need to be brought into their optimum locations. While many works are still waiting in their shipping crates, a number are now standing in situ.

On the historical marketplace at the Hessenpark Open-Air Museum, which in 2015 makes its debut as a venue for the Sculpture Biennale, three over-life-size figures by British artist Sean Henry (born 1965) can already been seen. From 19 April onwards, as an accompaniment to 'Blickachsen 10', the museum will also be showing an exhibition of smaller sculptures and drawings that provide further insights into Henry's oeuvre. A group of mythical hybrid beings by British artist Sophie Ryder (born 1963) as well as her impressive wire sculpture entitled ‘Open Hand’ have likewise already found their setting. Ryder's mysterious female bodies with the heads of hares, accompanied by Minotaurs, dogs and horses, are encountered both in the outside areas and inside the armarium at Eberbach Abbey. Meanwhile, the black bronze 'King and Queen' by British sculptor David Nash (born 1945) has already been erected in Bad Homburg, the nucleus of 'Blickachsen', where it is unfolding its monumental potential. Currently being installed at the exhibition's Frankfurt venue are the finely balanced sculptures by Robert Schad (born 1953), who is showing nine of his vivacious spatial sketches in steel at the Goethe University's Westend Campus.

One of many highlights to look forward to as part of 'Blickachsen 10' is the site-specific sound installation by Aachen sound artist Peter Kiefer (born 1961) within the walls of Eppstein Castle. Belgian artist Lieven Segers (born 1975), who is supporting Sara Weyns, director of the Middelheim Museum (this year's 'Blickachsen' partner museum), in co-curating the exhibition, is also providing a key work for Bad Homburg. His pedestal-like stele is furnished with the drawing of a face and two hands and carries a short text on its flat top. In humorous fashion, this text references the personal and society-related inhibitions that are triggered within us when we are confronted with the public space. Segers is concerned with the question of whether art can and should strive to overcome these self-imposed restrictions. His work thereby provides a conceptual framework for all the sculptures exhibited in Bad Homburg.

As part of this year's edition of the Sculpture Biennale, the Blickachsen Foundation is once again offering regular public guided tours of the works on show in the Kurpark and the Schlosspark in Bad Homburg. Private groups, corporate institutions, school classes and associations can book group tours for adults or children by email at fuehrungen@blickachsen.de.

'Blickachsen 10'
International Sculpture Biennale in Bad Homburg and Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Germany
31 May - 4 October 2015
In collaboration with the Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, Belgium

Exhibition venues:

Bad Homburg – Eppstein Castle – Darmstadt – Eschborn – Frankfurt – Hessenpark – Saalburg Roman Fort – Eberbach Abbey – Kronberg

Curators:
Christian K. Scheffel as Founder and Curator of 'Blickachsen';

Sara Weyns, Director of the Antwerp Middelheim Museum, together with Lieven Segers, as this year's Co-curators.

Organisers:
Stiftung Blickachsen gGmbH (Blickachsen Foundation)
Municipality of the City of Bad Homburg
Kur- und Kongreß-GmbH, Bad Homburg
Administration of the Public Stately Homes & Gardens in Hesse

Under the patronage of:
Volker Bouffier, Minister-President of the State of Hesse

Main supporters:
Deutsche Leasing AG, Freunde der Blickachsen, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH, Stefan Quandt

Further supporters:
All Service Unternehmensgruppe für Gebäudemanagement GmbH, AVG Trucks GmbH, Bank J. Safra Sarasin (Deutschland) AG,
BHF-BANK Aktiengesellschaft, DIC Deutsche Immobilien Chancen, FERI AG, François-Blanc-Spielbank GmbH, KanAm Grund Group,
Willy A. Löw AG, Mainova AG

Guided tours:
For information on the wide-ranging choice of guided tours on offer please visit our website www.blickachsen.com.

Press:

For press requests, please send us an email via presse@blickachsen.de or call us on +49 – (0)178 – 47 32 591. All press releases for 'Blickachsen 10' are also available for download in the Press area of our website www.blickachsen.com.

About the Blickachsen Foundation:
The public benefit Blickachsen Foundation was established in March 2013 to provide an institutional home for the 'Blickachsen' Sculpture Biennale. With its aim of securing the future of the Biennale as a showcase for contemporary international sculpture and art installations, the Foundation, with its seat in Bad Homburg, Germany, works together with the municipality of the city of Bad Homburg, the Kur- und Kongreß-GmbH and the Administration of Public Stately Homes and Gardens in Hesse to organise the biennial 'Blickachsen' exhibitions in the public open spaces of Bad Homburg and the wider Rhine-Main region. The Foundation aims to offer both young and established artists from around the world a platform for their work in the open and public space, not only to promote new generations of artists but also to heighten popular interest in, and appreciation of, the most varied currents in three-dimensional art.