Löwe 2

In his work, Joscha Bender explores the possibilities of figurative sculpture – sometimes playfully, sometimes powerfully. In the process, he lends his often multi-coloured figures, which he carves directly from a stone block, a charming lightness. In Blickachsen 14, Bender presents a bronze lion in the Kurpark. Its massive, muscular body is crouched, its head and front left paw stretched forward. Unlike its counterparts on public monuments, Bender’s “Lion” is not shown in a representative pose, but is instead making itself small. It is unclear whether it is stalking a prey or stealing stealthily away from its usual position. In contrast, the dandelion in the palace garden entitled “Unkraut vergeht nicht“ (Bad weeds grow tall), which Bender has carved out of blue-green sandstone and partly painted in bright yellow, stretches all the higher. The oversized, almost monstrous plant seems to want to outdo ist namesake, the ‘king of the animals‘. The title also underlines the unexpected power of the little-noticed weed.
Joscha Bender graduated in sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 2019 and has already shown his sculptures in various exhibitions in Germanspeaking countries.