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Jörg OlbergAgony - The architecture of decay -1987
1987
About the Item
Jörg Olberg (*1956 Dresden), Agony, 1987. etching, E.A. (edition of 30), 24 x 17 cm (image), 46 x 37 cm (sheet), each signed in pencil lower right "Olberg" and dated "IX [19]87", inscribed lower left "E.A. [Epreuve d'Artiste]".
- minimal crease and dust stains in the broad margin
- The architecture of decay -
About the artwork
Jörg Olberg draws here the sum of his artistic study of the Berlin ruins, which were still present in the cityscape well into the 80s. With his work "Agony" he creates an allegory of decay. Positioned in the landscape of ruins, a ruined house grows before the viewer, rising like the Tower of Babel into the sky, its roof and gable brightly illuminated by the sun. But already the roof shows mostly only the rafters, and as the gaze is drawn further down, the building visibly disintegrates, the beams protruding in all directions looking like splintered bones. Slowly but inexorably - in agony - the house will collapse in on itself and become nothing more than the burial mound of itself. At the same time, the small-scale stone composition and the plaster form a pattern-like ornamentation of decay.
The tension in the picture is fed by the counter-movement of growth and collapse, which is heightened by the dramatic formation of clouds. The swirls of clouds are reminiscent of a world landscape, such as Albrecht Altdorfer's Battle of Alexandria (1529). And the ruin - this is the further allegorical content - stands pars pro toto for the world as such. In this way, Olberg creates a modern memento mori in an architectural language of forms that is a key work of his early oeuvre.
About the artist
Born in Dresden, Germany, Jörg Olberg trained as a goldsmith, studied architecture in Weimar, and graphic design at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Since graduating in 1986, he has worked as a freelance artist in Berlin. Throughout his career, Olberg has focused on Berlin's urban landscape, and in his early work he was fascinated by the ruinous side of the city that still existed in the 1980s.
GERMAN VERSION
Jörg Olberg (*1956 Dresden), Agonie, 1987. Radierung, E.A. (Auflage 30 Stück), 24 x 17 cm (Darstellung), 46 x 37 cm (Blattgröße), jeweils in Blei unten rechts mit „Olberg“ signiert und mit „IX [19]87“ datiert, unten links als „E.A. [Epreuve d'Artiste]“ bezeichnet.
- minimale Knick- und Staubspuren im breiten Rand
- Die Architektur des Verfalls -
zum Kunstwerk
Jörg Olberg zieht hier gleichsam die Summe seines künstlerischen Studiums der Berliner Ruinen, die noch bis weit in die 80er Jahre hinein im Stadtbild präsent waren. Mit seinem Werk „Agonie“ schafft er eine Allegorie des Verfalls. In der Schuttlandschaft positioniert, wächst vor dem Betrachter ein ruinöses Haus empor und ragt – wie der Turmbau zu Babel – in den Himmel hinein, wo das Dach und der Giebel hell von der Sonne beschienen werden. Aber bereits das Dach zeigt größtenteils nur noch die Sparren und wird der Blick weiter nach unten geführt, löst sich das Gebäude zusehends auf, wobei die in alle Richtungen ragenden Balken wie gesplitterte Knochen wirken. Langsam aber unaufhaltsam – in Agonie – wird das Haus in sich zusammenstürzen und nur noch den Grabhügel seiner selbst ausmachen. Dabei bilden der kleinteilige Steinverbund und der Putz eine musterförmige Ornamentalität des Verfalls.
Aus der Gegenbewegung von Aufwachsen und Einstürzen speist sich die Bildspannung, die von der dramatischen Wolkenbildung noch gesteigert wird. Die Wolkenwirbel gemahnen an eine Weltlandschaft, wie sie mit Albrecht Altdorfers Alexanderschlacht (1529) vor Augen steht. Und die Ruine – dies ist der weitergehende allegorische Gehalt – steht pars pro toto für die Welt als solche ein. Damit schafft Olberg ein modernes memento mori in architektonischer Formensprache, das ein Schlüsselwerk seines frühen Oeuvres darstellt.
zum Künstler
Gebürtig aus Dresden absolvierte Jörg Olberg eine Goldschmiedelehre und ein Architekturstudium in Weimar und studierte anschließend Grafikdesign an der Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Seit dem Abschluss 1986 ist er in Berlin freiberuflich als Künstler tätig. Über sein Oeuvre hinweg widmet sich Olberg der Berliner Stadtlandschaft, wobei ihn in seinem Frühwerk die in den 80er Jahre immer noch präsente ruinöse Seite Berlins faszinierte.
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