WORK

PHALLUS

The new series of 7 phallus shaped bronze sculptures. Six are of a similar size as the archaeological finds from 1400-800 BC, such as the Berlin Gold Hat, the Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch or the Avanton Gold Cone. One of the new interpretations is 1,60m high.

PUSSY POWER

PUSSY POWER comes along in a fluorescent pink.   

Installed within the beautiful surroundings of Reventlow Museum during the annual Land Art exhibition IN SITU.LOLLAND, this year under the title HUN, until the beginning of October.

A vagina in the shape of a penis. The labia erect. The testicles formed of two snail shells. Looking like breasts. The labia arising out of them. Rearing up. Shaping something ship-like or a rocket. Fragmented, distorted, yet powerful. Thereby becoming a monument to the power and strength of the genitals – the female genitals.

The vagina is every mammal’s natural gateway into this world. Nevertheless, the connotations and strangely even the names and designations of the female gender are very often used in demeaning ways or even as a swear word. We need a paradigm shift. PUSSY POWER shall draw attention to this — inspired by the book Pussy: a reclamation by Regena Thomashauer (2016, Hay House, New York).

“A book written to reacquaint a woman with her own power source — which is the part of herself she has been taught to ignore, push down, and despise. Indeed, the word that most viscerally sums up that power is, as Regena puts it, arguably the most powerful pejorative word in the English language. Like any expletive used effectively, the title of this book is meant to be a wake-up call.” (quote) These thoughts have led to the sculpture’s title PUSSY POWER.

Simultaneously the rigidly conditioned binary of the two-sided gender system is deliberately called into question here. It simply falls too short. Every human being is composed out of both sexes. They form the two poles between which every human being needs to find a peaceful position. Harmony can only result from a healthy balance.

Over a period of five years Fabian Vogler has developed the book The Beauty of Sexes | Intersex in Dialogue together with psychologist Prof. Dr. Katinka Schweizer, published in 2018. 30 experts, scientists and researchers from various scientific perspectives took part. They entered into a dialogue with 70 of Fabian Vogler’s sculptures that were made at that time on the subject of “undefined gender”, partly also in cooperation with other artists.

Now for IN SITU LOLLAND with the topic of HUN he has created a “female dick” … PUSSY POWER. May it be seen and understood as a wonderful and loving symbol of empowerment.

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MAST*BOOM*TACK

A series of 5 colorful bronze sculptures – one magenta, four turquoise. Two figures telling stories of a love tango – depicted as a dance on a mast. Inspired by the coal drawing BOAT DETAIL by Danish painter and graphic artist Mia Sloth Møller.

ULTRA SCULPTURES

Vogler’s new series of ULTRASCULPTURES, a series of life-size, amorphously shaped bronze busts and fetish-like figures, takes us on a journey into free association with the humanoid figure.

It confronts us with different facets of human existence, awakens associations with African, Asian, oceanic or even Aztec sculptures, although they clearly are not. The surfaces have been worked through to the last detail and yet they seem as if they came directly from fire or remind us of excavated prehistoric finds. Condensed conglomerates of forms that encourage us to think and depict the human body more freely – strictly defined in their form, they form fantasy spaces, Phanasieräume, that leave room for the free, subjective connoting of the viewer.  HUBERTUS HOFFSCHILD, LÜBECK, GERMANY

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THE PRINCE_SSES

Dancing in front of us are strange beings – interesting, but alien. At first sight, the bronze figures appear to be incomplete; they are missing limbs, even heads, which may well account for their otherness.

But more disconcerting than the torsos, which we have encountered many times throughout art history, is the fact that we cannot make out whether the bodies represented here are female or male figures. Physical and social signifiers of sex are abundant (vaginas and penises, broad hips and tulle skirts, for instance), but in their combinations they only foil our expectations. The PRINCE_SSES’ external markers create confusion; Vogler juxtaposes female body shapes with male sexual organs in one figure, making it difficult for us to ascribe them a clear identity.

Like many other series of works by Fabian Vogler, his PRINCE_SSES confront us with sexuality in all its shimmering truthfulness and diversity. Vogler is one of the few contemporary artists to reflect on the elemental aspects of sexuality and use that perspective to explore human identity. Here, Kunstwollen hones in on sex and gender, and in his works, Vogler negotiates these terms in their most comprehensive sense, as referring to a social role (gender) and a person’s physical constitution (sex). Through his art, Vogler forges a connection with the great female artist of sexual identity: Meret Oppenheim, whose aesthetic metaphysics offers up a response to two major questions: How do we overcome socially constructed gender differences? and: What defines human creativity? I would like to draw on Oppenheim at this point, as her perspective opens up an ideal avenue for us to approach Vogler’s work. DR. CHRISTIAN WALDA

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DITTMAR’S BROTHERS AND THEIR TRAVELS

Dittmar’s Brothers exist as an edition of 7+2ap in nine bronze versions. The “brothers” love traveling and live in different parts of the world. Therefore each bronze cast has it’s own photo series – DITTMAR’S BROTHER’S TRAVELS

MENINA

“Up to now the Meninas are a series of 8 large standing sculptures inspired by a painting of the same name by Diego Velázquez. This is one of the best known and most discussed paintings in art history.

It is supposed to be the portrayal of the “theology of painting” (Luca Giordano) or the “philosophy of art” (Thomas Lawrence). Its enigmatic iconography seems to be one of the best reflections on the question: What is a painting able to show? In the centre of the composition we see the young Infanta Margarita wearing a robe typical for the time, yet it is by far unsuitable for a 5-year old. The little girl is standing there, rigid as if wearing armour, not capable of moving naturally and sternly looking towards the observer. Dresses of that era deform the body and do not allow its original shape to be seen. The tight corsage and the crinoline reflect an ideal silhouette of the time, however the anatomical facts as well as the age of the wearer are being totally neglected. The garment does reflect a premature eroticisation. Fabian Vogler uses the young Infanta as a basic shape to build his sculptures for this series.”

Quote from “Events of Plasticity” by Sophie Cieslar from the book „Perfect Imperfection. Sculptures and Reliefs 2011-2015“ (pictus verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3-927212-81-7)

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VENUS

“Fabian Vogler’s figures must be considered as archetypes. On the one hand he is deliberately playing with the familiar, conventional canon of forms, he bestows titles to his works and puts them into a historical context. Though, on the other hand, he wants to show the objective metaphysical reality.

This is an anthropological approach: What are human beings all about? How does the time we live in influence our being? Starting from elemental forms, which are deeply rooted in our sub-conscious he endeavours to create “contemporary idols”. Each time has its idols, what might one of these look like today?“

Quote from „Archetypes of the 21.century“ by Sophie Cieslar from the book „Perfect Imperfection. Sculptures and reliefs 2011-2015“ (pictus verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3927212817)

[1]Interview with Fabian Vogler, Vienna February 2015

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IDOL & SUPERFORM

“Images of idols are deeply rooted in people. In this instance, the artist mentions the Venus of Willendorf and also the works of Constanstin Brancusi. Brancusi reduces his pieces of art to elemental forms, to a core shape. This introduces abstraction and “primitivism” into sculptural art.

“Simplicity is complexity resolved”1, writes Constantin Brancusi. The simple form is mantling the essence, the spiritual reality in each sculpture. The head, most reduced, is for Brancusi the ideal image of the Greek “idea”. The simplicity, balance and stillness of Brancusi’s Sleeping Muse leads us directly to Fabian Vogler’s three series of heads.”

Quote from „Archetypes of the 21.century“ by Sophie Cieslar from the book „Perfect Imperfection. Sculptures and reliefs 2011-2015“ (pictus verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3927212817)

[1] Jerome Neutres, ”Brancusi in New York 1913-2013”, London 2013

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GERWIN GOES TO BRUSSELS

TOGETHER WITH PHOTOGRAPHER SEAN DANIELS

KÖPFE

There are various series on the topic of heads, “Köpfe”. By following the link, you can get an overview.

Die Regentrude von Breklum von Fabian Vogler

REGENTRUDE

Dr. Uwe Haupenthal | Museumsverbund Nordfriesland: (…) Reale und irreale, abbildlich gebundene und frei gesetzte Momente bedingen einander, wobei die daraus hervorgegangene, übergeordnete figurale Konzeption letztendlich für das Wunder des Regens steht. Vogler löst diesen bildnerischen Anspruch ein, indem er nicht nur auf das blühende Erscheinungsbild abhebt, sondern dieses als eine Art von weiblich-fruchtbarem Fetisch wiedergibt.

So zeigt seine Regentrude schon in der Vorderansicht je zwei übereinander angeordnete Brüste. Zugleich hat Vogler seitlich und auf der Rückseite weitere brustähnliche Formen hinzugefügt. Auf diese Weise stellt sich nicht nur der gleichgewichtige Eindruck des Runden bzw. des Plastisch-Gleichgewichtigen ein, sondern die Figur verliert in bestimmten Blickwinkeln ihre semiotische Eindeutigkeit zu Gunsten einer geradezu überbordend-naturnahen Präsenz. Die Nähe zur klassizistischen Figur der Dea Natura ist ebenso offensichtlich wie der darin zum Ausdruck kommende Bezug zu der berühmten antiken Figur der Diana von Ephesus und ihren aufgereihten eiförmigen Brüsteniv. In diesem Sinne verbindet sich mit der Regentrude zuvorderst die Vorstellung von Fruchtbarkeit im Allgemeinen, wenngleich Vogler auch die statische Vorstellung der Allegorie letztendlich aufbricht und deren Kernaus- sage in den augenfällig vorgeführten plastischen Prozess als solchen verlegt. (…)

Einmal mehr fügt sich die Figur der Regentrude in Voglers plastisches Oeuvre ein. Sucht er doch in Plastiken wie den „Titanen“, in idolhaften Kopfplastiken oder in der Serie der großformatigen „Meninas“ die Nähe zu mythischen Themen und deren hochgradiger Beständigkeit, wobei diese eben nur eine marginale Variationsfähigkeit zulässt. Es ist das Erlebnis der Form als solche, die den Impuls des Abbildlichen auslöst, freilich ohne ihm allzu weit nachzugeben. So bleibt Voglers Regentrude in ihrer sinnlichen Gegenwärtigkeit ebenso formgebunden wie sie in ihrer eingeschränkten guralen Ausrichtung eine elementaren, naturmächtigen Impuls hinsichtlich der Erfahrung des Wassers auszulösen vermag. Aus ihr heraus entsteht die zeitlose Vorstellung von Leben. (…)

Zitat aus “Mystischer Naturkreislauf” aus der der Broschüre “Die Regentrude von Breklum” (pictus verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-927212-86-3) mit Beiträgen von Carsten Thoroe (Vorsitzender des Kunst- und Kulturvereins Breklum e.V.), Heinrich Bahnsen (Bürgermeister von Breklum)  Christian Demandt (Theodor Storm Zentrum, Husum), Dr. Maren Conrad (Westfälische Wilhems-Universität Münster) und Dr. Uwe Haupenthal (Museumsverbund Nordfriesland)

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