Ulrich Rückriem

Bleu De Vivre, 1986

Ulrich Rückriem’s theme is stone. His artist colleagues may see stone merely as a material starting point for a sculpture that can be carved out of it. But Rückriem makes the block of stone itself into a sculpture, and relies upon the sensual experience of its geological qualities and subtle coloring. In doing this, he confines himself to processes and tools used in the stone industry, and stops at the point at which sculptors usually start. All traces of working are visible, drilling holes and splitting lines, for example, and it is possible to follow their chronology. Rückriem uses the geometrical division of the stone block and the smoothing that has occurred in places on the raw material to create a reference to the adjacent architecture, which also works with horizontal and vertical as basic orientations, and for Rückriem is also part of the work. (Marko Schacher). “The material, its shape, qualities and dimensions influence and limit my artistic activity. Working processes must be intelligible, and must not be obliterated by what follows. The work I undertake on the material defines the object itself and its relationship with its new location”. (U.R.)