Ulrich Rückriem

Ulrich Rückriem, from volumes to acrobatics That we should be wary of labels is common knowledge, and while they may have their share of truth (and of characterisation), they stick too much, reductive and indelible. So we should be wary of those attributed to Ulrich Rückriem, who is dubbed as being abstract, conceptual, minimalist. In the first place, this misses out on the essential aspect of this sculptor, his familiarity, his love of material, mainly stone; in addition, they fix, freezing his work, whereas in recent years Ulrich Rückriem has turned to paper, becoming a draughtsman of beautiful invention. It remains true, however, that Ulrich Rückriem began as a stonemason, at the Dombauhütte in Cologne. His sculptures have always borne this mark, or marks rather: cut, split, break, crack... Holes speak of breakage, mass and density are there, power likewise, but sculpture is made of parts, of pieces; it is reconstructed, hence the tension of these volumes placed there, which impress by their very reduction.    A glimmer of lightness nevertheless, in the play of series, of variations. And for these reliefs, on the floor, itself of split slate, this is highlighted by colour, enhanced by gilding. There is, against all expectations, a kind of playfulness in Ulrich Rückriem. And recently, when the artist turned to paper, this has increased; rigour, certainly, as always, but something lighter takes over in the lines that join the points to arrive at figures where the angles suddenly become acute. There is in this a new side to the geometry that is so dear to Ulrich Rückriem. Even though some works recall the distribution of sculptures – a black surface contrasting, for example, with a white surface – here all we see are forms surging upwards like kites, passing from one to the other, beginning to fly, to flutter. Our eye thus has to change, at least with constellations like these that chess fans will associate with a very complex Damenwahl. On our next stroll to the park of the Roman road at Kirchberg, we will imagine lines connecting the four sculptures, Vier Variationen zum Thema Bildstock, and their niches occupied by polished plaques; they refer to the very questions of the Wanderer. Lucien Kayser