Gräfelfing and Its Artists – a Small Town with Big Goals
Art is supposed to be seen! That’s why the Kunstkreis Gräfelfing has set up a platform for art in public space, which is populated by changing sculptures. And right now it stands empty – a good opportunity for artists to submit their proposals.
With just under 14,000 inhabitants, the small community of Gräfelfing near Munich is certainly not the hub of the world. But cultural life is flourishing. The Kunstkreis Gräfelfing (a regional non-profit organization for the promotion of art) is particularly interested in offering an artistically high-quality programme. For the people of Gräfelfing, this has become part of the deal and also attracts foreign audiences. Most recently, the association caused a sensation in the summer with its spectacular exhibition Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung (Faith, Love, Hope), with which it reached a national audience. 100 works of art by 30 contemporary artists were on display in the summer at 12 sacred locations in Gräfelfing.
A Platform for Sculpture
While the visitors pushed their way through the churches, Gräfelfing also housed a work of art of a completely different kind: from January to September 2018, an abstract pair of steel stood on the art platform in front of the New Town Hall, inclined towards each other. I’m listening to you is a work that intuitively appeals to every passer-by. The Gauting artist Elke Groebler has reduced her steel sculpture to the bare essentials, yet the viewer immediately recognizes the intimate relationship between the two
I’m listening to you was not the first sculpture in this place. The art platform has meanwhile become a real institution in Gräfelfing: Since 2016, it has housed sculptures changing every six months. Here, artists have the opportunity to make their art visible in public space – and it is a cultural enrichment for daily life in Gräfelfing. The promotion of up-and-coming artists is particularly important; they are offered a platform here, in the truest sense of the word.
Art for All Eyes
For Ingrid Gardill, board member of the Kunstkreis Gräfelfing and Platform supervisor, art in public space is a special concern: “People who may never enter a museum
come into contact with it. It is deeply democratic and can have a completely different effect.” Passers-by are encouraged, or even forced, to deal with the individual positions. This creates the basis for a public discourse that focuses on art.
Ingrid Gardill’s personal favorite was the first inhabitant of the platform. In 2016 it housed two Businessmen of the Swiss artist Daniel Eggli. Gardill was deeply impressed by the joie de vivre and humour radiated by the life-size sculptures made of native mammoth wood. “I was immediately fascinated and am glad that they stayed in a private garden in Gräfelfing”, she says.
The people of Gräfelfing seem to feel a special attachment to their public art: not only the Businessmen went into private hands after the end of the exhibition. I’m listening to you has already found a lover in the community, too. Lucky for the collector – a loss for the public space. But the art platform should not remain empty for long: The Kunstkreis is happy to receive proposals for the period from early November 2018 to early June 2019.
The art platform is looking for a new inhabitant: a good opportunity for the spontaneous!
Due to the premature sale of Elke Groebler’s steel figures, there is now an opportunity for spontaneous artists to fill the coveted space on the art platform with their own artwork for the next six months. But time is of the essence, because the deadline for submissions is October 20!
Our members can find the text for this call as well as many other opportunities under Opportunities (please log in first!).
For details about the platform itself, please visit the website of the Kunstkreis Gräfelfing.
