Per Kirkeby, Backstein-Skulpturen, 1987, 51°57'55.2"N 7°36'56.5"E

The first time Per Kirkeby (1938–2018) participated in the Skulptur Projekte was in 1987 with his multi-part work Brick Sculptures (Backstein-Skulpturen). Two sculptures of the Danish artist’s initially three-part work have survived to this day. The third was located in the atrium of the Westfälisches Landesmuseum—since 2013, the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur—and was dismantled after the exhibition. The two remaining sculptures are still situated in close proximity to one another at their original location on the lawns between the Baroque residential palace and the road bordering the Schlossplatz.

One of the two sculptures is a cuboid structure built in brick, rising to a height of five metres and punctuated by arch-shaped openings on all four sides. The second sculpture, by contrast, is relatively flat, resembling a small stage or platform that invites visitors to linger. Its square base is framed by abutments and stylized buttresses. With his choice of form, Kirkeby picks up on the motif of the Greek cross, while the buttresses allude to a traditional architectural element commonly found in the construction of bridges and churches. While Kirkeby draws on existing design principles and architectural styles, he detaches them from their original function by incorporating them into illusory architecture. References to surrounding architecture are evident not only in the artist’s use of brick—a characteristic feature of Kirkeby’s sculptures since the 1970s—but also in the formal language of his work.¹ Viewed from the front, his flat sculpture offers a visual axis extending toward the building of the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology located behind it. Upon closer inspection, several parallels can be drawn between Kirkeby’s pseudo-architectures and the architecture behind them. The narrow arch above the ground and the resulting cavity in Kirkeby’s flat sculpture align with the low-lying window within the building’s stepped porch. The arched brickwork lintel above the building’s windows is also echoed in the sculptures.

In Kirkeby’s adaptation of conventional building styles in his Brick Sculptures, the architectural elements are stripped of their function: in both sculptures, the space above the flying buttresses remains empty, rendering their role as load-bearing structures obsolete. With these two Brick Sculptures, Kirkeby has constructed illusory architectures, transforming architectural forms into sculptural entities.

Marie-Féline Malavasi / Translation Barbara Lang