Olaf metzel biography

Biography.
Biography.
Born in 1952 in Berlin, the sculptor and object artist has gained widespread acclaim for his controversial installations in public space.

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Olaf Metzel (born 1952 in Berlin) seeks as a sculptor to represent society by creating three-dimensional images. The underlying theme of his work revolves around his wish to reflect the time in which we live, to create visibility for topical issues and in so doing encourage debate on pressing socio-cultural matters. In his art, Metzel, who enjoys international acclaim, not only resorts to media images or quotations taken from the realm of current affairs, but also delves into art history’s reference system. His works are powerful, resolutely radical, charged with energy – they entail moments both of destruction and of pure aesthetic. Today, ten years on, Neues Museum in Nuremburg is hosting a solo exhibition of his oeuvre, giving him the opportunity to stage a more differentiated presentation of his work that will enable an informed discussion of his oeuvre. dermassen regiert zu werden (2015) is the title of a recent piece that presents the sculptor’s multifaceted output alongside other large installations. Together, they give a panorama on society that is peppered with spe

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What can we learn from history? Is there really any lesson that we can apply to our present day? And who exactly is “we”? Few artists have delved into German history, its upheavals and ruptures as intensively as Olaf Metzel.

Born in 1952 in Berlin, the sculptor and object artist has gained widespread acclaim for his controversial installations in public space. With their references to current political and social issues, Metzel’s works have established him as one of the most influential German representatives of contemporary art today. As a former professor of sculpting and Rector of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Olaf Metzel has shaped entire generations of working artists during his long career.

Works by the acclaimed documenta artist will be presented at Belvedere Castle and the Liszt House historic locations from 7 June to 1 November 2024. The ground floor of the Liszt House is currently being converted into a temporary exhibition venue in the coming years and will feature newly installed works by Olaf Metzel. These include relatively unknown illu

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Biography

Olaf Metzel was born in Berlin in 1952. He studied (1971-77) at the Freie Universität and at the Hochschule der Künste, both in Berlin. He has received many grants and awards, including a DAAD stipend and one from the Kunstfonds, Bonn, and has also won many prizes, including the Villa Massimo Prize (1987), the 'Arnold-Bode-Preis' awarded by the city of Kassel (1994) and the 'Kunstpreis der Stadt Darmstadt' (1996). Since 1986 he has held many teaching positions; and since 1990, has held a professorship at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich, from 1995 serving as Rector of this institution. He lives in Munich.

The spatial dimension is crucial in almost all of Metzel's work. Inside demolition objects (buildings) he creates large concrete sculptures and attacks them with circular saw, mortice chisel and crowbar, some of his aggressive interventions being recorded by a video camera mounted on the circular saw. In his large sulptures and both indoor and outdoor installations, Metzel incorporates objects such as rubbish s