• Sculpture and Space | Jürgen Partenheimer

    Photo: Benedikt Partenheimer
  • 'All sculpture is essentially conceptual, it does neither take a final, determined form, nor a set spatial dimension. As a...

    "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

  • 'Jürgen Partenheimer has renounced the traditional functional relationship between model and sculpture, foregone the final step to what might be...

    "Jürgen Partenheimer has renounced the traditional functional relationship between model and sculpture, foregone the final step to what might be presumed as completion or perfection and made free variation the actual goal. Behind the minimalist simplicity of his sculptural oeuvre there lies an abundance of the undepictable.“

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

     

    Jürgen Partenheimer’s work is characterized by an extraordinary relationship of line and form that invite free association and trust the world of imagination. This is particularly evident in his sculptures: La Caida del Humo, the Weltachse or Der Weiser are presented in variable states and not in a single definitive form. The abstract sculptures thus reveal the movement of thought as a visible form. This unique approach was defined by the artist as "metaphysical realism".

     

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

  • 'Partenheimer's sculptures are distinguished by an abstract poetical quality. Like a musical composition, they vibrate with the rhythm, repetition and... 'Partenheimer's sculptures are distinguished by an abstract poetical quality. Like a musical composition, they vibrate with the rhythm, repetition and... 'Partenheimer's sculptures are distinguished by an abstract poetical quality. Like a musical composition, they vibrate with the rhythm, repetition and...

    "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

  •  Click here for the complete interview between Jürgen Partenheimer and Ivo Mesquita

  • La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt

    Häusler Contemporary Lustenau | Photo: Wolfgang Stahl
  • La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, denotes the abstract energy of a nearly unnoticed natural phenomenon –...

    La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, denotes the abstract energy of a nearly unnoticed natural phenomenon – weightlessness and gravity. A model of natural structures, it leads the idea of movement, self-dynamics and chaotic self-organization as sound of infinite expanse into the movement of an abstract spatial drawing. The hanging sculpture consists of carved and water colored pine sticks covered with unbleached beeswax on twisted hemp cords.

    The title refers to a natural phenomenon and, in the mind, it creates the image of a descending cloud of water dust in the drop zone of a waterfall - la caida del humo - the fall of the spray.

     

    Pinacoteca do Estado Sao Paulo (2005) | Photo: Benedikt Partenheimer

  • Jürgen Partenheimer, La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, 1993-2017

    Jürgen Partenheimer

    La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, 1993-2017
    Wood, beeswax, hemp
    Room-dependent, variable dimensions
  • With the title La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, 1997 Jürgen Partenheimer created a sculpture for the...

    With the title La Caida del Humo / Der Fall der Gischt, 1997 Jürgen Partenheimer created a sculpture for the Museum of Contemporary Art CGAC in Santiago de Compostela. 2005, on the occasion of the São Paulo Biennial, the sculpture was exhibited in an extended version at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. 2017, La Caida del Humo was shown in the 9x9x9 exhibition space of White Cube in London.

     

     

    Jürgen Partenheimer, Lichtschwarm, White Cube Bermondsey, London 28 April - 18 June 2017 | Photo:  White Cube (Ben Westoby)

  • 'My sculpture is drawing, my drawing is sculpture.' – Jürgen Partenheimer (1994)

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

     

    – Jürgen Partenheimer (1994)

  • Excerpt from Gentle Madness.
    A film by Anne Bürger (2005)

    You can see the complete film (47min) via this link.
    Broadcasted 2005 on ZDF and 3SAT.

  • axis mundi / Weltachse

     

    Häusler Contemporary Lustenau | Photo: Wolfgang Stahl
  • 'The term axis mundi – Weltachse, refers to a universal symbol, which finds its origin in anthropological and theological interpretations... 'The term axis mundi – Weltachse, refers to a universal symbol, which finds its origin in anthropological and theological interpretations...

    "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

  • Jürgen Partenheimer, Axis Mundi / Weltachse, 1994-2018

    Jürgen Partenheimer

    Axis Mundi / Weltachse, 1994-2018
    Bronze, pigment ultramarine multicolored
    88 x 12 x 12 cm
    34 5/8 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches
    Ed. 3/3
  • The color of the bronze cubes of Axis Mundi is predominately ultramarine blue, divided in three translucent chromatic shades. The...

    The color of the bronze cubes of Axis Mundi is predominately ultramarine blue, divided in three translucent chromatic shades. The system according to which the cubes are stacked implies no rational or logic height. Their mutual similarity emphasizes a dynamic, upward thrusting energy on all sides of the sculpture. The self-similarity of the cubes shows characteristics of the whole in the detail and leads to a complex structure that remains indeterminable and changeable at any time. The system of positioning the sculpture is calculable but sensitive, every change of the initial location results in a new rhythm. With the variable height of the sculpture and the precisely defined installation site, Partenheimer responds sensitively to the respective environment between architecture and nature.

     

    After Jürgen Partenheimer had already built a plywood model in 1983, the first Axis Mundi was realized in 1993 for an installation at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. The artist assembled a column from handmade wooden cubes, covered with water colored rice paper. 1997 followed a first version for the exterior in bronze for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In addition, further - partly temporary – locations took place in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, China and England. 2014, on the occasion of the exhibition "The Archive", Axis Mundi was installed at the rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.

     

     

    Studio Jürgen Partenheimer (2019) | Photo: The Artist

  • 'Partenheimer‘s work proposes a multiplicity of folds and gaps in the fabric of our experience that change the cartography of... 'Partenheimer‘s work proposes a multiplicity of folds and gaps in the fabric of our experience that change the cartography of...

    "Partenheimer‘s work proposes a multiplicity of folds and gaps in the fabric of our experience that change the cartography of the perceptible, the thinkable and the feasible."

     

    – Aoife MacNamara, art historian, Emily Carr University Vancouver (2014)

     

     

    Studio Jürgen Partenheimer (2019) | Photo: The Artist

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

  • Axis Mundi – Sculpture in the City, London (2016)

  • 'The lyricism of his paintings and sculptures challenge conventional interpretations of time and space, conveying something at once essential, both...

    "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

  • Der Weiser

  • Jürgen Partenheimer Der Weiser, 1999Car varnish, steel and aluminium 224 x 125 x 75 cm 88 1/4 x 49 1/4...

    Jürgen Partenheimer

    Der Weiser, 1999Car varnish, steel and aluminium
    224 x 125 x 75 cm
    88 1/4 x 49 1/4 x 29 1/2 inches
    Ed. 3

  • 'With the sculpture Der Weiser there is no 'so and no other', nothing is absolute. The work responds sensitively to... 'With the sculpture Der Weiser there is no 'so and no other', nothing is absolute. The work responds sensitively to...

    "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

  • Der Weiser offers variable possibilities of presentation: The differently colored aluminum panels of the abstract wall sculpture are connected along...

    Der Weiser offers variable possibilities of presentation: The differently colored aluminum panels of the abstract wall sculpture are connected along a vertical central axis and may be freely adjusted. Thus, a wide variety of surface, shape and color combinations is achieved which allows for a different rhythm of the flexible parts. At the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, for example the supervisory staff was allowed to daily change the rhythm of the sculpture. Thus, as quoted in the introduction to the Viewing Room, Jürgen Partenheimer aims at "a free interpretation of sculpture."

     

    Der Weiser has been exhibited at CGAC, Santiago de Compostela (1999), S.M.A.K. Gent (2002), Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund (2004), Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 2008 and Kunstmuseum Bonn (2008), among others.

     

     

    Studio Jürgen Partenheimer | Photo: The Artist

  • Excerpt from Gentle Madness.


    A film by Anne Bürger (2005)



     

    You can find the complete film (47min) via this link.
    Broadcasted 2005 on ZDF and 3SAT.

  • Jürgen Partenheimer

    biography
    Photo: Benedikt Partenheimer
  • 'His work is abstract while suggestive of other tangible forms; historical yet refreshingly contemporary; intimate yet public and oscillating. Within...

    "His work is abstract while suggestive of other tangible forms; historical yet refreshingly contemporary; intimate yet public and oscillating. Within these seeming dualities Partenheimer produces layered, poetic works that speak to social systems of communication and expression while acknowledging the specificity of place."

     

    – Nigel Prince, Director, Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver (2014)

     

     

    Studio Vancouver (2014) | Photo: David Simmonds

  • Born in Munich in 1947, Jürgen Partenheimer studied the theory and practice of art in Germany, the USA, Mexico and...

    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

  • 'Jürgen Partenheimer’s visual world immediately captivates us via its floating, delicate ease, its disavowal of loud gestures and elaborate formats,... 'Jürgen Partenheimer’s visual world immediately captivates us via its floating, delicate ease, its disavowal of loud gestures and elaborate formats,... 'Jürgen Partenheimer’s visual world immediately captivates us via its floating, delicate ease, its disavowal of loud gestures and elaborate formats,...

    "Jürgen Partenheimer’s visual world immediately captivates us via its floating, delicate ease, its disavowal of loud gestures and elaborate formats, its formal and tonal understatement. […] The artist succeeds uniquely in his paintings in departing from the idea of an objectively experienced world, transforming it into a cognitive act of seeing."

     

    – Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, former head curator of Pinakothek der Moderne München (2014)

     

  • → to the artist page Photo: Wolfgang Stahl

    → to the artist page

     

     

    Photo: Wolfgang Stahl

  • available works

    Pinakothek der Moderne (2014) | Photo: Nicole Wilhelms
  • publications (selection)

    Pinakothek der Moderne (2014) | Photo: Nicole Wilhelms