Friends of Blickachsen Art Prize 2023 awarded to Michael Dekker

At a prize-giving ceremony in Bad Homburg, Michael Dekker accepted the "Friends of Blickachsen Art Prize 2023". The German artist received the award, worth 5,000 Euros, for his work "Suite", exhibited in Blickachsen 13.

The Blickachsen Prize has been awarded every two years since the fourth Sculpture Biennale in 2003 to honour the distinctive artistic approach of one of the exhibition's participants. Since 2015, the prize has been endowed by the "Friends of Blickachsen".

"After careful consideration, the jury's decision this year to award the prize to Michael Dekker was unanimous", said Blickachsen founder and curator Christian K. Scheffel of the Blickachsen Foundation - on behalf, also, of Thomas Buhl of the "Friends of Blickachsen" and Sir Peter Murray CBE, founding director emeritus of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the UK, as permanent external jury member.

Michael Dekker's sculpture "Suite", specially created for Blickachsen 13, seizes its space in the Bad Homburg Kurpark with an almost musical rhythm and movement. Built out of bent wood and subsequently cast in aluminium, it unfolds with a refined elegance in a complex upwards movement. Stratifications, displacements, curvatures - as seen in nature and in the earth's geology - emerge here in reconstituted forms, creating a field of tension between apparently natural, grown forms on the one hand, and constructional building and architectonic thinking on the other. A term used in architecture as in music, the title of the work, "Suite", encourages reflection about real spaces and surroundings, and opens at the same time new conceptual spaces.

At the award ceremony Sir Peter Murray paid tribute to the artist's work: "The international dimension of Blickachsen, together with the range and content of the works exhibited, provides an exciting opportunity for artists and the public. With such an array of talent it has been a challenge to identify a winner for the Blickachsen Sculpture Prize. The work of Michael Dekker continues to impress and there was unanimous agreement to award the 2023 'Friends of Blickachsen Art Prize' to this talented artist. His sculpture 'Suite' fuses material and spiritual elements to create a work of self-sufficiency that adds to the spirit of the landscape."

Born in 1983 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Michael Dekker, originally a qualified agronomist, studied Fine Arts and Sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and completed a degree in geography in Duisburg before becoming a master student under Tony Cragg in 2013. Since then, his work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

The Blickachsen 13 exhibition in the Bad Homburg Kurpark and Schlosspark can be seen until 1 October.

Detailed information on Blickachsen 13 can be found at www.blickachsen.com.
We will be happy to supply photographs for media purposes on request.

Blickachsen 13
Contemporary Sculpture in the historic Bad Homburg Kurpark and Schlosspark
In collaboration with the Stiftung Insel Hombroich (Insel Hombroich Foundation), Neuss, Germany

Duration: 14 May - 1 October 2023

Participating artists:
Gili Avissar, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Michael Dekker, Tamara Grcic, Sabine Groß, Erwin Heerich, Judith Hopf, Gereon Krebber, Norbert Kricke, Oliver Kruse, Arik Levy, Wilhelm Mundt, Katsuhito Nishikawa, Bettina Pousttchi, Thomas Rentmeister, Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Thomas Schütte, Paul Schwer, Esther Stocker, William Tucker, Sonja Vordermaier, Ina Weber, Winter/Hoerbelt

Partner institution: Sitftung Insel Hombroich (Insel Hombroich Foundation), Neuss, Germany
Curators: Christian K. Scheffel (Blickachsen Foundation), Roland Nachtigäller (Insel Hombroich Foundation)

Organizers:
Stiftung Blickachsen gGmbH (Blickachsen Foundation)
Municipality of the City of Bad Homburg
Kur- und Kongreß-GmbH Bad Homburg
State Palaces and Gardens of Hesse

Unter the patronage of the Minister President of the State of Hesse, Boris Rhein

Main Supporters:
Deutsche Leasing AG, Freunde der Blickachsen, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH, Stefan Quandt

Further Supporters:
Arnold AG, François-Blanc-Spielbank GmbH, Frankfurter Volksbank Rhein/Main, KanAm Grund Group, Willy A. Löw AG, Stiftung Historischer Kurpark Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe

Entrance: free
Regular tours: programme available on www.blickachsen.com
Bookings for group tours through the Blickachsen Foundation:
Email: fuehrungen@blickachsen.de, tel: +49 - (0)6172 - 681 19 46

www.blickachsen.com

Press contact:
Sunita Scheffel
Mobile: +49 178 473 25 91
presse@blickachsen.de

Stiftung Blickachsen gGmbH
(Blickachsen Foundation)
Ferdinandstraße 19
61348 Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe
Germany
Tel.: +49 6172 6811946
info@stiftungblickachsen.de
presse@blickachsen.de
www.blickachsen.de
www.blickachsen.com

About the Blickachsen Foundation
The public benefit Blickachsen Foundation, with its seat in Bad Homburg, Germany, was established in March 2013 to oversee the Blickachsen Sculpture Biennale, which it organizes together with the municipality of Bad Homburg, the Kur- und Kongreß-GmbH and the Administration of the Public Stately Homes and Gardens in Hessen. The foundation's aim is to secure the long-term future of the Biennale, and to provide access to contemporary sculpture and installation art to an ever-growing audience in the public space. At the same time, the foundation seeks to promote the evolving cultural attraction of the city of Bad Homburg and the further Rhine-Main region, and to establish the region over time as an international centre for contemporary sculpture. In offering, every two years, a platform for exhibiting the work of both young and established artists from around the world, the foundation seeks both to promote emerging artistic talent, and to heighten popular interest in and appreciation of the most varied currents in three-dimensional art. A lively encounter with contemporary sculpture is stimulated by the diverse range of Blickachsen tours and workshops for children, young people and adults. In addition, the foundation sees itself as a mediator and point of intersection between cultural and educational institutions, supporting the dialogue between artists and museums, as well as between art and scholarship.

This release was published on openPR.