Ernst Stark

Renowned for his small format, wooden objects Ernst Stark plays big now. His ‘Bois de Boulogne’, Caribbean landscapes, houses or water lilies are small, very small. They are holding themselves back and force the viewer to focus more clearly. But the beast, that is something different.

‘A strange beast confronts the viewer in a confident and direct way. The baffling presence and archaic impression coming from this wooden body fills the room with a very special aura. There is an unusual sincerity and authenticity radiating from this sculpture. The beast doesn’t evade nor hides behind an abstract symbol. A long neck sits on a robust, blue watercolored body with fine limbs and a naked, uncolored tongue reaches out into the room. The beast – it’s a rare and shy okapi reminiscent of a fabulous creature – is placed in the middle of the exhibition space. The blue tongue seems to have given off all the color to the rest of the body.

Different wooden objects like bowls and houses are placed loosely around the beast. The gathered objects create a counterpoint to the beast and imbue a material character. The group of works is shown in a state of development and picks up on an aspect that is held within the ever working and changing material that is wood. The exhibition is just like a snapshot of the shaping process and presents a turning point in the continuity of the artist’s operating principle. Okapis are loners just like Stark‘s beast. Such a presentation may change the finale form of sculpture and the given course may also change, just like Michel Butors Modification did.

The unpredictability of the dead and the living material symbolizes the artist’ concession not assuming responsibility for his work. Hence, part of the authorship is returned to the self-defining wood. The shape of the body was given by the lime tree. Despite the coloring, the beast’s striking nudity mirrors nativeness and liveliness but also vulnerability.’ (Lucia Schreyer)

Ernst Stark lives and works in Paris and Frankfurt am Main. He received the working scholarship from Hessen and scholarships from the Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Künstlerhaus Worpswede and the Cité des Art Paris. Numerous exhibitions, most recently at the Lothringer 13 Halle Munich, the galleries widmertheodoridis Eschlikon/Zurich, Fine German Frankfurt am Main, Primo Piano Paris, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck and numerous art associations.