*1967
- Title
- „Schlendernder Herr Alberto“ („Strolling Mr. Alberto“) – Hommage à Giacometti
- Time
- design 2017
- signed
- "F. Böhme 3/6"
- Material
- bronze, no. 3/6
- Height
- 72 in
”Our pursuit of the original is absurd, as creative creatures we cannot create anything new, our brain works rationally, copying is our strongest sense. The only way to creatively break new ground is to give coincidence a chance, by recognizing and stopping the process. Or in playful interaction, which implies a lack of purpose that is contradictory to the plan we have to be an artist. So let’s relax. Let’s go back in time and start again by spinning a larger web. We revive the works by picking them up and allowing them to flow through us. They are transcribed so that the story continues to be written. Giacometti‘s brother Diego was responsible for making the scaffolding to build the figure, so perhaps that is why there is often a rigid posture that corresponds to a straight iron bar. This leads to an attempt at transcription when mixing different masters. The light-torn contours of a Giacometti sculpture with the casual sweep of a Pink Panther and a distorted anatomy, borrowed from Master Schiele. The individual parts are connected by bars, to open up the cast bronze. The effect is sketchy, floating, casual. Albert, the master, on his way to his studio. Maybe we can slowly say goodbye to the cliché of the constantly suffering artist. Creative work is what makes us human, it is beautiful.” (Ferdinand Böhme, 2018)
Ferdinand Böhme, born in 1967, lives and works in the Styrian Salzkammergut. He received his multifaceted education at the Hallein Sculpture School, at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, at the Linz Art Academy and in the marble quarries of Makrana in Rajasthan, among others. Cultural and art history are important foundations for Ferdinand Böhme‘s thematic identification and creative process. He draws his inspiration, for example, from his involvement with Alberto Giacometti, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and El Greco, as well as with the great sculptors of Roman and Greek antiquity. In his bronze sculptures, Böhme attaches great importance to making the casting process visible, which is why he leaves the remains of the fireclay on the rough, extremely plastic surface. Following Renaissance techniques, the figure‘s limbs are not soldered on, but connected to the torso through narrow casting channels. The arms and legs set off from the torso, as well as the floating mounting, lend the sculpture a surprising lightness despite its stable earthiness.