Sculptor Robert Kögel

Contests / exhibitions
• City Gallery, Dreieich, Germany.
• Exhibition in Gallery Philippsruhe Castle, Germany.
• Member of the Mansion Dreieich.
• Group exhibition at the open air museum. Seligenstadt, Germany.
• Riedersbach Symposium at the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture in Metal, Hessen, Germany.
• Symposium at the Contemporary Art Museum, Metal Sculpture, Austria, 2013.
• Member of the German Commission for metal sculptures on a large scale.
• Member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (RBS).
• Member of the Agency for large scale sculptures in London.

Prizes
• First prize in Kuntsmeile Trostberg, Bavaria, 2010.
• First prize, steel sculpture, NeuIsemberg, Germany.
• First prize, wood carving, Natupark, Heinichen, 2013.
• Commissioner for the second sculpture in the sculpture symposium in Rheinland Pfalz, Germany.

Technique
Steel

Message of the project
All my work depicts the construction of bodies. Every sculpture reveals its inner structure. The sculpture Hold Out exposes a body structure that is sturdy and robust resting safely on its feet – successfully coping with the elements. However it will not lose its elegance and grace. There is a metaphorical meaning in it referring to basic characteristics of the homo novus.

P.S. Due to the given size of the plates the sculpture will be more lean at a height of about 210 cm.

Interview to Robert Kögel

• What’s the place that you live like?
I live in Dreieich, a town of about 40000 people. Dreieich is situated 10 km south of Frankfurt the place I used to live for many years . Frankfurt is right in the middle of Germany. My family and me live in a residential area that was founded around the year 1905. So many of these houses are built between 1905 and 1910 engulfed by beautiful gardens with big oak trees.
• Can you share with us a happy memory from your childhood?
I grew up in the countryside. People help out each other. When our neighbours got a new septic tank someone had to be chosen to crawl in and paint it from inside with tar for insulation. Because at the age of 8 I was appointed to do the job for I was the only one that could stand upright inside. I proudly accomplished that work and got a welcome compensation on top. However it took us about the same time to remove the tar from my knees, arms, face and hair.
• When did your love for sculptures begun?
I was very impressed by all the ancient places in Italy, Greece, Turkey and Jordan I visited when I was a student. Later I have been to Yucatan twice and travelled through Peru and Bolivia. I was always attracted by architecture.
From a travel through the Mediterranean countries in 1975 I brought a piece of rock of about 30 cm in hight, put it on a plinth and appointed it a sculpture.
I started my first sculpture in 1985 when a storm toppled down an elm tree, so I
had enough material to work on but only a blurred and vague idea what to make of it.
• What does art mean in your life?
To answer this I would like to refer to a book I have recently read:
Moon Palace written by Paul Auster, p. 166
The true purpose of art was not to create beautiful objects… .It was a method of understanding, a way of penetrating the world and finding one´s place in it, and whatever aesthetic qualities an individual canvas ( piece of art ) might have were almost an incidential by-product of the effort to engage oneself in this struggle, to enter into the thick of things.
• Do you have any other profession besides sculpting?
I have a degree in economics. I work as a self- employed property manager.
• A model artist that you admire – fine artist, filmmaker, writer, philosopher
I am not very talented in admirering people. But if so, I admire and judge people for from what they are rather than of their achievements.

• A book or author you recommend
Collector of the Worlds by Iliya Troyanov, Moon Palace by Paul Auster Historical/Political event Unification of Europe to the European Union.
• Do you practice any religion?
Yes, I am a practising Christian.
• Can you share with us a traditional recipe from your country?
Yes, Frankfurter Grüne Sauce is a typical seasonal dish of Frankfurt made of 13 different herbs of the spring season. It comes with potatoes and boiled eggs.( Sorry, no meat). It was one of Goethe´s favourite dishes.
• What is the status or importance of art in your country?
What is the role of the artist in your society?
We have a very rich and vivid cultural scene in Germany. Especially the visual arts show a wide range of disciplines from traditional sculpting and painting to film/video/computer art, installation and performance art. Even the new technology 3Dprinting is harnessed for sculpting.
There are renowned and outstanding modern art museums mainly in the big towns Berlin, Hamburg, Köln, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich but all over the country as well. Germany is hosting some excellent artfares throughout the year. There are a lot of private run as well as subsidised art initiatives and events on local scale . Artfares and museums show artists from all over the world.
By and large the artist is held in quite high esteem in our country for looking at things from a different perspective and sometimes coming up with something new and innovative. However the artist´s achievement is not reflected duly in his income so that just a minority of them can earn a living on art alone.
• Have you already been to South America and Argentina?
What are your expectations for the City of Resistencia and its Biennial?
Yes, Mexiko, Cuba, Peru, Bolivia. A friend who attended the bienal in 2010 told me a little bit of what is going on during that event and that it attracts a lot of people. My Lonely Planet Travel Guide gives the Bienal de Escultura a paragraph and states that there are plenty of sculptures in and around Resistencia. So lets see. Open mindedness creates open mindedness.
• What the slogan “Hommo Novus” makes you think about? Can you tell us something about the work of art you are going to make?
The figure I planned for 2014 biennial is meant to look like a futuristic construction, like a sci fi – structure ahead of its time. There is a saying : Tempora mutantur et nos in iis
Times are changing and we are changing with it . Technology – in particular information technology has changed people´s life tremendously. So it’s up to us to adapt to change and act in a proportionate way to make the best of it.