newsletter Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger
17/04/2020
|
THE GALLERY COMES TO YOU N°3
Paul Wallach, Down to the Ground, white cement, 40 × 45 m, 2018. © Georges Poncet
A
work of art is, in essence, silent in its moving immobility, not
loquacious. A work of art is in search of eloquent words to underline
it, and is, by essence, a continual presence. Sculptor Paul Wallach’s
words fill his notebooks, and his drawings emerge, material in hand,
into time and space. In the words of the artist, sculpture needs to:
« profoundly address ephemerality, need, fragility, utility, truth,
ambiguity, time, light, place, space, form, material, volume, emptiness,
autonomy, identity, weightlessness, levitation, gravity and all their
infinite combinations. « Wallach’s star-shaped installation, Down to the Ground, inaugurated in May 2018, appears to barely touch the ground, its four points branch out like probes into the fields of Salzburg’s Krauthügel. The largest project by far undertaken by the sculptor, it is an embodiment of the thinking and spirit that brought it to life. Occupying an area measuring 40 × 45 meters, visitors can stroll at will amidst its 40 cm high blocks of white cement, which create a place to repose, linger, perform or play. From the terrace of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the sculpture is viewed in its entirety, its form shining and changing with the seasons, its scintillating whiteness, at times, levitating over the green grass or gracefully embraced by the surrounding snow-covered landscape. Since its inauguration, a webcam has been streaming the installation from a bird’s-eye perspective, enabling Down to the Ground to reach out to the world and beam beyond Salzburg. As Laëtitia Bischoff so marvelously puts it: « Paul Wallach’s sculpture is contrary to any human ostentation which has inspired and given rise to so many sculptures and buildings erected vertically. Verticality, in the work of Paul Wallach, presents itself to those who search in the invisible, in the language of signs, from the soil to the stars; for whose train of thought builds a monument, a new drawn line ». We are pleased to announce that the Salzburg Foundation’s request for a 5-year extension of Down to the Ground, in accord with the Bonn Foundation for Art and Culture and Saint Peter’s Archabbey of Salzburg, has been officially granted, thus ensuring the work will remain in place through 2024. In recognition of the public success the installation has received, we are happy to share with you some images as well as the video that captures how subtly Paul Wallach’s site specific work radiates, over time and throughout the seasons, since the beginning of its creation. Please receive my warmest greetings as well as my wish to see you soon, Véronique Jaeger |
