Year: 1971
Technique: Etching
Size: 32 x 42 cm
Edition: 125/300
Signed
Antonius Höckelmann
Germany, 1937 - 2000
Antonius Höckelmann trained as a woodcarver. He then studied (1957-61) under Karl Hartung at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Berlin.
Höckelmann's work as a sculptor is imbued with his interest in a wide variety of sculptural materials. In the sixties he worked with plaster, plastic and clay, in the early seventies he also started using polystyrene blocks. In addition to predominantly figurative painted reliefs made in lime wood, Höckelmann also produced works that focused on organic, especially vegetal forms, but leaning towards abstraction. Since the late 1980s he has also been working in terracotta and bronze. Höckelmann's drawings have revealed the influence of Mannerist and Baroque sculpture, be it in the excessively long, tangled lines or the repeated overwriting of physiognomies. In addition to working with pencil and chalk, Höckelmann makes ink sketches, sometimes with his fingers. As in his work as a sculptor, Höckelmann's drawings show both abstract and figurative elements. Thematically, all of his work revolves around eroticism, violence, death and madness, with motifs often drawn from mythology and literature, as well as the immediate reality of his own daily life. The resulting images are often arranged in groups and cycles. Moreover, Höckelmann's oeuvre is notable for landscape elements (especially roots, stones and chunks of earth), for the human figure (especially the female nude) and for animal life (especially birds and horses).
