Die Krähe / The Crow (sitzend) 34

In the forecourt of the Kunsthalle in Darmstadt, the Dutch artist Arie Van Selm presents his large-format bronze “The Crow (sitting)” – the companion piece to his striding crow on display in Bad Homburg. As a supplement to “Blickachsen 10”, the Kunsthalle is also showing a number of drawings and paintings by the artist, where the motif of the crow is often present. Like its counterpart in Bad Homburg, the stylized figure presented here is also patinated black. It has settled on a base and seems – even without eyes – to be observing its surroundings. Despite its static posture, the bird’s form conveys a sense of movement with which it seems to be seeking to hold its balance on the slightly slanting surface of the base. The striding crow in the Bad Homburg Kurpark, and the sitting crow in the Darmstadt city centre – only a variation in posture separates the two bronze birds, and yet in their different surroundings the effect they have is entirely different. Arie Van Selm himself comments on his sculptural design for the figure of the crow: “In nature it can astonish with its artificiality. In the city it soothes with its naturalness.”