Peter Schwickerath

(Germany) *1942 in Düsseldorf

The Düsseldorf artist Peter Schwickerath is of the generation of sculptors who concerned themselves intensively with steel as a sculptural material. Since the early days of his sculptural work, in the 1960’s, his pure, constructive steel sculptures have been based on clear geometric planes and bodies, such as the square, rectangle and circle, cube, cuboid and cylinder. Starting from these basic forms, Schwickerath plays with volume, mass and weight. By means of simple but rigorously applied interventions he breaks up the surfaces and opens them up to space. “Plastik Stahl X/96”, on display in the Bad Homburg Kurpark in “Blickachsen 8”, is typical of his heavy steel sculptures, weighing tons, yet reaching out into space, seeming light and dynamic. From a solid, 25 cm thick steel slab, Schwickerath cut out an element. He diagonally interlocked the two resulting pieces so that they support each other in a slant and – despite their great weight – rest on narrow edges and corners as if balancing on them. To create the optimal position for the pieces in terms of stability and effect, Schwickerath made tests with a smaller model before constructing his work.

Exhibits

Blickachsen 8