Henning Schwarz, Anja Michaela Kretz – Meisterschüler und Klasse Balkenhol - Ansichten und Einsichten

Die Ausstellung Ansichten und Einsichten ist der Beginn einer neuen Reihe mit dem Titel „Meisterschüler“. Hier stellt die Stern-Wywiol Galerie in unregelmäßigen Abständen Meisterschüler bedeutender zeitgenössischer Bildhauer vor. Den Auftakt machen Henning Schwarz und Anja Wiebelt – Meisterschüler von Stephan Balkenhol.

Stephan Balkenhol studierte bis 1982 an der HfBK in Hamburg und ist ein international erfolgreicher Künstler. In der Hansestadt ist er mit folgenden Werken vertreten: Mann auf Giraffe vor Hagenbeck, Mann und Frau vor der Zentralbibliothek und den Vier Männern auf Bojen auf Außenalster und Elbe.

Anders als ihr Lehrer arbeiten die beiden Künstler nicht als Holzbildhauer.

Henning Schwarz‘ Material ist Stein. Er nimmt sich Gabbro, Diabas oder Marmor und bearbeitet diese zu spiegelglatten Oberflächen. Die Schönheit des Materials ist überwältigend und wird doch immer wieder gebrochen durch unregelmäßige Kanten und schroffe Abbrüche. Der Künstler spielt mit Brüchen und Gegensätzen, inhaltlich wie formal. Seine Arbeiten wechseln zwischen abstrakt und gegenständlich, spielen mit den Medien Zeichnung und Skulptur, springen zwischen Ein-, Zwei- und Dreidimensionalität hin und her.

Anja Wiebelt blickt ins Innere und gewährt dem Betrachter Einsicht ins Verborgene. Der Konzeptkünstlerin kommen dabei alle möglichen Materialien zu pass. Holz, Metall, Papier, Draht, Latex, Stoff … Auch ihre Arbeitsmethoden sind vielfältig. Sie fotografiert, zeichnet, collagiert, arbeitet holzbildhauerisch oder als Schmiedin, näht und leimt ... Sie geht aus von der inneren Welt, für die sie konkrete Bilder und Metaphern sucht, die dem fragilen, verletzlichen und schutzbedürftigen Ich Anschauung verleihen und der Flüchtigkeit der Erinnerung nachspüren.

Speech at the vernissage of "Views and Insights" by Dr Kathrin Reeckmann, 27.03.2014

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to give you some thoughts on the work of Anja Wiebelt and Henning Schwarz. Two artists who could not be more different in material, style and expression.

So what could be a link, a way of appreciating both artists without trying your patience unduly, ladies and gentlemen? It is you yourself who hold the key. It is your perception, it is your seeing above all that gives you access to art.

This is actually a matter of course, but it is often obstructed by preconceived opinions and a lack of self-confidence in your own powers of observation. I am currently reading the "History of the World in 100 Objects" by Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum in London. With understatement and humour, almost 2 million years of human history are told here through 100 pieces from the museum's collection, from hand axes to credit cards. It is absolutely amazing what insights can be gained just from looking at the thing itself in an unprejudiced and knowledgeable way. Far too often, we rely on what we think we know and completely forget to explore the things themselves and let them speak for themselves in their own language. With the help of this view, unbiased and knowledgeable, I would like to introduce you to the work of Anja Wiebelt and Henning Schwarz.

First, I would like to direct your gaze to Anja Wiebelt and her work "Standby". So what do we see?

Two upright tubes, with a bottom at the bottom and widening towards the top - they are probably vessels, perhaps vases or barrels. What is stored in them? We do not know yet. The vessels are irregularly shaped, not quite straight, they lean slightly towards each other. The way these vessels are made immediately catches the eye: they have each been cut out of a solid piece of wood. Their thin walls are repeatedly pierced by gaps and holes. Is this the ravages of time? Are we looking at archaeological finds? Unlikely.

If we ask our heart at this point for its contribution, we notice a feeling of transience, of the fleeting, of something-is-no-longer-as-it-used-to-be. We may also have the feeling that these objects are alive. They turn towards each other, they have something essential, almost figurative. The title of the work of art "Standby" leads us further down this path. In other words, "standby". Ready for what? Ready to receive something, but what? These essential, almost living vessels are perhaps us? Is that our ego? And what do we take in? Sensations, experiences. What remains? Memories, more or less sharp, fleeting and changeable. Unexpectedly but inevitably, we reach a metaphorical level with such trains of thought and can take this perspective with us for the contemplation of Anja Wiebelt's other works:

The artist always invents objects whose characteristic is the ambiguous, the vague, the elusive. They are often vessels, standing or mounted on the wall, that show us an outer shell of something that is not visible, has disappeared or never existed. To connect this inner with the life of the soul, with feelings, perhaps also with the unknown or unconscious, is a next step of reflection. It is up to us to imagine these contents and formulate our own insights.

The work of Henning Schwarz is also ideally suited to train our gaze:

If you look at the black object in the middle of the room, for example: Several thin, straight-cut pieces of black stone are inserted crosswise into each other. Two projecting slabs form something like two feet or plinths. On top of these stand two long slabs, similar to two legs, on which stands a connecting piece that finally holds two long spikes. This is undoubtedly an abstract representation, although figurative associations also play a role. Let us try the material and technique: the sculpture is made of gabbro - a very hard stone similar to granite. Its workmanship is striking: the surfaces are partly polished to a high gloss, very regular, very perfect, because they are machine-made. The colour of the stone goes into black and it looks like a mirror. Other surfaces and the edges, on the other hand, are sawn, not polished, giving them a velvety, grey surface. The connection of the individual parts, which is clearly visible, appears unexpected to the viewer: the artist sawed slits in the stone here and then inserted them crosswise into each other. The sculpture seems to be built up from a large construction game. Would another arrangement be possible? Could an arbitrary dismantling and reconstruction, even a new construction, succeed? Tools don't seem to be necessary and anyone can play.

Henning Schwarz constructs something new from two-dimensional panels. He combines them to form a spatial whole that is more than the sum of its parts. He has titled his sculpture "Archimedes". So is it a monument to the Greek mathematician and engineer who formulated the law of the lever and discovered the number Pi? No, certainly not in the direct sense. But perhaps the artist is pointing us to the beauty of mathematics, geometry and mechanics, which can be found in many of his works and which have belonged to the fine arts since antiquity - quite in contrast to sculpture, by the way.

In addition to playfulness and rationality, there is a third principle that our sensations make accessible to us: We see that Henning Schwarz's works are made of stone. We know that this is a very heavy material. But we do not feel this heaviness when we look at the objects. So Henning Schwarz plays with our idea of stone as a material and the art usually made of it. He is not attracted by the material's heaviness, or even its forcefulness. Common associations such as historicity or monumentality interest him above all in order to undermine them, to play with them. Henning Schwarz's works appear light and weightless; they aim at poetic contact, not at physically overwhelming the viewer.


I hope, ladies and gentlemen, that you will enjoy trying out your gaze in our exhibition. I would like to leave you with a word by Arthur Schopenhauer, which, although theoretically applicable to all good art, fits wonderfully tonight as a link between Anja Wiebelt and Henning Schwarz: "Style is the exact imprint of the quality of thought".