Sculpture and Space | Jürgen Partenheimer

"All sculpture is essentially conceptual, it does neither take a final, determined form, nor a set spatial dimension. As a model, as a construction of imagination, sculpture takes the dimension necessary within a respective environment." 

– Jürgen Partenheimer (1999)

The abstract oeuvre of German artist Jürgen Partenheimer (*1947 in Munich, DE) follows the contemporary interpretation of modernism, from which he consistently develops his own work. In various forms of artistic expression – painting, sculpture, works on paper, artists books and text - he combines minimalist formal vocabulary with lyrical content.

The viewing room focuses on Partenheimer's sculpture and offers three outstanding examples of the artist's sculptural oeuvre. The spotlight is on Caida del Humo | Der Fall der Gischt (1993-2017), Axis Mundi | Weltachse (1994-2018) and Der Weiser (1999).

Installation view "Discontinuity, Paradox & Precision", Kunstmuseum Bonn (2008) | Photo: Reni Hansen

"Partenheimer's sculptures are distinguished by an abstract poetical quality. Like a musical composition, they vibrate with the rhythm, repetition and juxtaposition of forms; they seem to express a state of uncertainty, seductively calling in question the viewer's own preconceived certainties."

– Ivo Mesquita, chief curator for contemporary art, Pinacoteca Do Estado, São Paulo (2004)

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (2014) | Photo: Alice de Groot

Jürgen Partenheimer "Das Archiv", Sammlung Moderne Kunst in der Pinakothek der Moderne, 2014. Courtesy the artist and Pinakothek der Moderne, München | Photo: Nicole Wilhelms

Jürgen Partenheimer, Discontinuity, Paradox & Precision, Installation view, Ikon Gallery (2008) | Photo: Stuart Whipps

"My sculpture is drawing, my drawing is sculpture."

– Jürgen Partenheimer (1994)

"The term axis mundi – Weltachse, refers to a universal symbol, which finds its origin in anthropological and theological interpretations of the vertical bridging the gap between Heaven and Earth. Thus, the sculpture´s position represents a site of imaginative spiritual energy, of presence, awareness and difference, wherever it is installed in the context of architecture or nature."

 – Jürgen Partenheimer

Forbidden City Peking (2000) | Photo: Moritz Partenheimer

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vondel Park (1997) | Photo: Jaring Lokhorst

"The lyricism of his paintings and sculptures challenge conventional interpretations of time and space, conveying something at once essential, both condensed yet transient."

– Nigel Prince, curator IKON Gallery, Birmingham (2008)

Jürgen Partenheimer "Das Archiv", Sammlung Moderne Kunst in der Pinakothek der Moderne (2014). Courtesy the artist and Pinakothek der Moderne, München | Photo: Nicole Wilhelms

"With the sculpture Der Weiser there is no 'so and no other', nothing is absolute. The work responds sensitively to its surroundings. It is about variability and stability at the same time, which is only inherent in nature in the imagination. Yet the forming hand of the artist remains always perceptible. Playfully and with precision he fits together the carefully chosen elements to world models"

– Iris Benner, curator, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund (2004)

S.M.A.K. Gent (2002) | Photo: Benedikt Partenheimer

Born in Munich in 1947, Jürgen Partenheimer studied the theory and practice of art in Germany, the USA, Mexico and France. As a representative of a subjective abstraction, he is considered one of the most notable contemporary artists in Germany. With theory, poetry and prose as his referential grammar for artistic expression, Partenheimer's work encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, artists books and text.

He became internationally renowned following his participation in the Paris, Venice and São Paulo biennials, and in 2000 became the first contemporary German artist to whom a retrospective in China at the National Museum of Art in Beijing was dedicated.

Solo exhibitions of the artist's work have been held by the National Gallery Berlin (1988), the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1997), National Museum of Fine Art, Beijing (2001), the CGAC in Santiago de Compostela (1999 and 2004), the S.M.A.K. in Ghent (2002), the Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo (2004), the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and the Kunstmuseum Bonn (both 2008), most recently the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Gemeente Museum Den Haag, The Falckenberg Collection-Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (all 2014) and the Musée Ariana, Geneva (2016).

Partenheimer taught at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, the Royal College of Art, Edinburgh, the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, and at the San Francisco Art Institute and Rhode Island School of Design, Providence among others.

The artist lives and works in Munich and in Italy.

Studio Tucson (1982) | Photo: Helga Teiwes

→ to the artist page

Photo: Wolfgang Stahl