3. Juni 2012 - New Ceramics

Klaus Schultze is famous for
his large-scale brick figures.
made whole series of painted tiles. In the
past few years, two major sculptures have
been unveiled in Munich, a couple in a loving
embrace in concrete, and a three-metre
hand built of separate elements. His latest
project was realised with artist friends from
Germany and France, including former
Akademie students: a bench made of concrete
and ceramic, a wonderful piece for a
public garden in Burgundy.
Where does this man take the energy
and joy in his daily work from, in his studio
by the Goldbach river in Überlingen? Is
it good food and wine, or the view across
Lake Constance, near enough to touch,
which he sees from his kitchen window
and in which he swims every day?
The illustrations show work by Klaus
Schultze in his garden and studio
Or is it the many collected pieces from
ceramist friends around the world, assembled
in his basement, or is it simply
the idea that the whole world is a ceramic
puppet theatre if you only shape
it a little?
Klaus Schultze is famous for his largescale
brick figures. Especially in France
in the 1970s under the legendary Minister
of Culture, André Malraux, in his
endeavours to give public commissions
to artists, Schultze experienced wonderful
times he will never forget. Schultze
had the idea of making sculptures in
brick, as he has frequently retold, on a
journey to Siena. The brick architecture
fascinated him and confirmed for him
that he had found a durable material for
large outdoor sculptures. Brick continues
to exercise a great fascination on Klaus
Schultze. He still rhapsodizes about the
EXHIBITION
quality, the play of colours and the surface
qualities of his beloved brick, which
he only uses from special brickworks in
France. Indeed, it is an incredible pleasure
to hear him talk about clay as a medium.
When he speaks about it, and tells
the countless stories that have happened to
him in his life, his eyes twinkle mischievously
and with great charm, and then for
a moment one has a notion of the source
on which he draws.
When we were talking with Klaus
Schultz and his wife Nica to plan the exhibition
at Galerie Handwerk, we made
several trips to Überlingen to select pieces
from his archives. When approaching his
house, a former mill, even from a distance
one is welcomed with open arms by the
colourful and friendly ceramic figures of
Klaus Schultze, to whom the human form
means so much.
Wolfgang Lösche runs Galerie Handwerk at
the Chamber of Skilled Trades for Munich
and upper Bavaria
The exhibition at Galerie Handwerk,
Munich, will be opened on 26 april 2012
by Gudrun Schmidt-Esters of the Keramion
Foundation in Frechen. It runs until 9
June 2012. Further details are available on
www.hwk-muenchen.de/galerie
MaY / JuNE 2012 NEW CERAMICS 47