[ABOUT ME]
Timeless Art? ¬
Artless Time?
[by Bettina Klimbacher | English translation by GEZA]
The
question, ”What is art?” preoccupies the sculptor as
well as the questions about art. Art does not only have the claim to be
beautiful but is also a document of the times. The state of an epoch is depicted
in art. Life becomes visible. How much time does one take for culture, for art?
What was or is important for society; 
how
did people live and build? What is left over, what was handed down and adapted?
What was the purpose? Churches, temples, pyramids, palasts, graves and pictures;
depictions of power, religion and wealth. Is that all? Art as an expression of
non-verbal philosophy? An attempt to give thoughts a body, to make them visible.
Does the expression of a sculpture allow less misunderstandings than the
language or is it merely the chance to get a collected thought? Artists have
always wanted to express themselves and thus left important clues to past
cultures behind. But there are, of course, also misunderstandings in depicted
thoughts.
Hastily
spoken criticisms without really dealing with the work
raises doubt about our accelerated era in the artist >>
Andres
Klimbacher's mind. He has organized several >>
sculpture symposiums so that the public can have easier access to fine
art. By this means the observer has the chance to see the sculpture grow. Art
comes to the people and thus becomes part of ordinary life. It is crucial that
the public and the art
colleagues communicate. He wants to share the process of development with the
public,make them curious, talk with them about the idea, converse, and show that
an artist is no mere dreamer, rather one who realizes his dreams and gives them
form. It is also important to him to get to know other cultures. This led him to
the West Coast of Canada where he worked and spoke together with the 'HAIDA'
Native American sculptor >>
Theo Mahood to understand his traditional and contemporary
lifestyles. >> Common
works created a cultural bond which surfaces again and again in the
works of the artist.
Andres has been an astonishingly consequential man who works exhaustively and determinedly as artist since I have known him. >> His works are marked by an absolute exactitude, whereby the form and esthetic are dominant. Yet this perfectionism he demands does not interfere with his creative compulsion. In fact, the opposite is the case: he gives himself new tasks and challenges artistically and technically. And this pushed him on. His sculptures divulge a common line and form; his hand is unmistakable.
Andres Klimbacher works in >> wood and metal.
His
bronze figures are welded; the theme is the human form. A child balances on a
wheel held by the mother, cubistic, yet the movement, expression and situation
are round and soft. A reader, a commonplace picture taken from real life. Is it
this sense of familiarity which make his figures and sculptures so alluring?
Well, it is not only that: his combinations of stainless
steel
and wood covey a lean sense of abstraction. He plays with the contrast of the
materials, fits metal to wood, lets them flow into each other and lets them
relate to each other. Contrasts, opposites, supports, balance or imbalance; a
moment of suspense puts the beholder under its spell. The clean form confers a
feeling of peace and elegance which is accented by the polished metal. “Stainless
steel is a metal which can reflect the colors of the surrounding area and become
one with it; it conforms to its environment. It losses its cold character.” is
the statement of the artist. He refers to the transparence of the material, a
stylistic device often used in architecture.
