A beautifully shaped skull, smooth, round and flawless like that of an ancient Egyptian priest. He sits there lost, his slender androgynous body gracefully curved, presumably giving birth to noble thoughts. But the feet. Elfriede Schweiger’s bronze sculpture is not called “Big Foot” for nothing; the size of the feet, especially the long toes, undermine the well-proportioned nature of the composition, adding something grotesque to the grace of the figure. And yet it is precisely because of this that she develops a particularly elegant tenderness that is beyond boring perfection.
A sight that raises aesthetic questions, which irritates and makes you pause. “Big Foot” is not the only work that can currently be seen in the Ottobrunn town hall and that can produce such effects on the viewer. 61 artists present their work there on several floors, it is the annual exhibition of the Kunstverein Ottobrunn, which has been running for several weeks and has now been extended again until January 6th. “We have never had so many artists who take part. It was a challenge to hang up so many pictures,” says Dominika Egerer.
The second chairwoman of the art association, who has just shown a solo exhibition in the association’s own gallery “Treffpunkt Kunst”, thinks that it was a success. Which picture hangs where, which object occupies which space, how the town hall rooms, which were not designed as a museum, can be used in the best possible way – these are questions that arise with such a variety of works. It is important to avoid visual overload for the viewer and, as far as possible, to follow an aesthetic concept. And yes, the artistic director Anna Arndt, who was in charge of the hanging, managed it well.
Elfriede Schweiger’s sculpture “Big Foot”.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
What makes such an annual exhibition not only difficult to hang, but also particularly worth seeing, is the variety and diversity of the objects presented. Not all members of the art association are academically trained artists, the creative use of brushes, cameras or grinding tools is a profession for some, a passionate hobby for others, but the essential prerequisite for being an artist – technical and craftsmanship – can be attributed to all of them.
There are quite a few eye-catchers: the colorful pictures by Yaja Bela Roth or Christine Weidlich’s touching work “The Worried Look”. Christine Renner’s symbolic and humorous “Little Conquerors” pictures are also popular. In Reiner Binsch’s “Driftwood at the West Stand”, the subject is impressive as well as the material: hand-made Lokta paper from Nepal – Buddhist monks already recorded their notes on this paper 2000 years ago. Franziska Polter-Foremans “Stoffwerk Rot” has particularly hypnotic eye-catching qualities; if you look at the elaborately circling fabric work for a long time, your eyes may turn with it.
The analogue photo works by Countess Nadja zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, which capture the delicate, almost ethereal-looking circles of Nile waves, are also beautiful. Dominika Egerer’s husband Jörg, the first chairman of the Kunstverein, is showing his photo work “Ei, Ei Ei”, which is characterized by elegant minimalism: Here, yolk rests in a saucer carried by elegantly stacked plates.
Reiner Binsch: “Driftwood on the West Beach”.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Pastel works by Helmut Buchwitz, mixed media by Cord Winter, large-format rough mixed-technique pictures by Sabine Huber, minimalist sculptures by Banu Theis-Baydur and woodblock prints by Skadi Engeln, a Berlin member of the Art association. The longing to present oneself in public has been particularly great this year after the 2020 annual exhibition fell victim to the pandemic.
“Our task as an association is to convey art,” says Dominika Egerer. The artist, born in Stettin in 1974, is pleased about the extension of the exhibition and about her role on the new board in general: “I like to organize and I like to deal with people. My husband and I also have experience in asset management and accounting. That’s in also important to a club. ” Of course, it is also important to draw more attention to the artists. In general, this is rather difficult at the moment, but because of the exhibition location (town hall) you can at least visit the exhibition under 3-G conditions (and not 2-G plus).
The exhibition can be visited during the opening hours of the town hall (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Thursday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.).