We took a look at what artists have been thinking about the Covid-19 pandemic
US artist T Barney sent us a photo of his work “Ultra Strong“ as a reminder of the “Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020,“ as he names the phenomenon. It reminds us that when the 1st Corona wave hit Europe in March of that year, the first reaction among many citizens in Germany was concern that toilet paper might be in short supply. During the 2nd wave in October, such hoarding occurred only to a much lesser extent; during the 3rd wave in March 2021, it did not happen again.
T Barney’s work is made of Carrara marble and a good 11 cm high. With a mocking undertone, he understands his work as “a reminder to always keep a roll on hand for emergencies.“
https://www.tbarny.com/
Sculptor Dirk Fiege from Germany has carved 2 symbols of the pandemic in stone: the million-fold enlargement of the virus (title: “Virus in a Box“) and the mouth-nose mask, more precisely: its first version (title: “Faceless“). The 1st work is in Sivec marble, the 2nd is a chunk of Carrara marble.
http://www.steinklopfen.de/index.php/portfolio
US artist Robin Antar, known for her perfect stone copies of everyday objects, has taken an abstract approach to the pandemic. “Studio Visitors“ is what she calls her sculpture: “One day I woke up and said to myself I want to have some people visit my studio. I could not let anyone in because of COVID-19, so I decide to cut out of stone studio visitors. carved out of a very rare piece of blue onyx. “ (H: 17,5 x W: 42,5 x D: 17,5 cm) (h: 7″ x w: 17″ x d: 7 “)
https://robinantar.com/pages/studio-visitors
https://www.stone-ideas.com/23953/kunst-ketchup-flasche-nach-versteinerung/
On a farm in Strausberg, not far from Berlin, Kurt Zirwes continues the tradition of lapidaries. Until the 19th century, these were collections where people gathered stone objects from centuries past. Zirwes collects boulders, displays them on the farm, or turns them into works of art, such as the new work “Virus“.
https://findlingshof-strausberg.de/
An absurd story about the pandemic: for the art exhibition “Sculpture by the Sea“, which took place in 2020 as every year in March on the beach of Cottesloe not far from Perth in Western Australia, Marcus Tatton had contributed his work “Viral Escapade“. When he created it, he could not have imagined the significance the topic would acquire worldwide that same year.
John Lynch is also at home in Australia. He has made several works on the pandemic, and they are all somehow in the shape of towers, he writes us: “It seems to be a metaphor for isolation and maybe danger. “The work on the left, titled “Drought Tower“, also recalls the bushfires that hit the country along with the pandemic. Depicted is one of the widely used water tanks, here made of wire and resin with inclusions. The work on the right called “New York Tower“ recalls Lynch’s visit to New York in 2019: he couldn’t believe how hard the pandemic had hit the city. At the top of the tower sits a crown, the namesake for the coronavirus, gargoyles look down from on high on the streets.
https://www.instagram.com/johnlynchsculpture/
Italian sculptor Ezio Morini sent us a photo of his sculpture “Resilience“. It is made of French linden wood. Morini has been a sculptor for 30 years and works with wood, terracotta, marble and stone, plaster, fiberglass, and polystyrene.
http://www.eziomorini.it/
Photos: artists
(28.03.2021, 03.28.2021)