Georg Herold

(Germany) *1947 in Jena

Georg Herold is known for his works which comment on both everyday life and high art in a humorous and often confrontational way. Since the 1970s, he has often used roof battens, which he considers to be “rationally, emotionally, psychologically and physically tangible”, for his sculptures. For the group of works, to which “beef early” and “Mont Parnass” also belong, he uses them to build figures, which he covers with fabric, and paints. For the versions exhibited in Bad Homburg, these fragile constructions were cast in bronze and aluminium; the aluminium is painted bright red, while the bronze remains transparent. In “beef early”, the figure’s stretching pose is reminiscent of the tradition of the reclining nude from Titian to Manet, but could just as easily be from a fitness studio. The title “Mont Parnass” alludes to the mythical seat of the muses, but the figure shows less creative aspiration than sporting ambition, stretching one leg high into the air as if doing a yoga exercise.
Georg Herold studied in Munich and Hamburg after fleeing the GDR. He has presented his works in numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad and has taught as a professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt and at the Düsseldorf Art Academy.