Tique | art paper asks six questions to an artist about their work and inspiration.
This week: Johannes Wald.
How do you describe your own art practice?
My work physically and conceptually examines sculpture, deconstructing its general parameters and the necessary tenets of its existence.
Johannes Wald - Stone with no form (crises never come in shapes), 2015 marble, variable dimensions, (weight: 1,2 t) Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels
What was your first experience with art?
At the end of the street I grew up on was a square with two works in public: A well by the German sculptor Ulrich Rückriem and a text piece by Lawrence Weiner, which I didn’t really understood up to that day.
Installation view: "Johannes Wald – Geste und Gefühl / attempts at forming appropriate finds" 2014 Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Photo: Henning Krause Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
Seeing, feeling and thinking.
Johannes Wald - Pedestal for a muse (Außenversion), 2011 boulder, cow fur (at sunny days), 120 x 210 x 230 cm Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels
What do you need in order to create your work?
A rare interaction of moods: boredom, solitude and clarity.
Johannes Wald - Gliederpuppe (traurig), 2010 wood, steel, cloth, 180 x 75 x 75 cm. Courtesy Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels
What are you working on at the moment?
I am polishing a piece of obsidian, in order to find the reflection of my face in it. (I already did that before two times. I gave them both away, what I do regret now).
Johannes Wald - Cold veins / warm light, 2017 marble plate, HD projection, 140 x 93 x 4 cm, Photo: Alessandro Sozzi Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels; Rita Urso Artopiagallery Milano
What work or artist has most recently surprised you?
Even though I am not a big fan of Ettore Sottsass’ idea of design, but the emotional richness and freedom in his artworks and writings really touched me. (Ettore Sottsass, There Is A Planet, 15 Set 2017 – 11 Mar 2018, La Triennale, Milano).
Installation view: "Johannes Wald – Giovanni Bosco" 2018, Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Rome Courtesy: Daniel Marzona, Berlin; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels; Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Berlin/Rome
