TCC Sculpture Blog: Olaf Metzel

Olaf Metzel uses provocation as mental impetus for his art. The clash of cultures on city streets can generate anger, prejudice and strong feelings which Olaf Metzel deliberately provokes in his politically charged works. Metzel often creates his sculptures from scrap iron, like in the Randale Monument in Berlin or discarded football stadium seats in good-bye in Nuremberg. In both cases the sculptures led to substantial protests against the artworks in their respective cities.

Metzel was born in Berlin and lives and works in Munich. He has participated in 1987 Documenta 8, Kassel, Sculpture Project Munster, 1997, the 2008 Brussels Biennial, Contemporary Art in the City and in Art of Two Germanys / Cold War Cultures at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art 2009, as well as numerous solo exhibitions worldwide.

One of the three art work pieces explained; "Art in public spaces can serve as a stimulus to reflection. Today, the image of the bridge appears clichéd and scarcely usage as a symbol of the Goethe Institute's contribution to cultural dialogue. But what is the significance of a staircase, a spiral staircase - the spiral staircase? The staircase leads nowhere and relates only to its own centre; its circular movement always leads back to the same point, in an endless vortex of digression which finally unmasks the very idea of forward motion as an illusion." (Prof. Dr. Hilmar Hoffmann, former President of the Goethe-Instituts)