IKARUS - The flight of fancy

From July 22 to 30, 2023, the sculptors Linda Verkaaik (NL), Faxe Müller (DE) and Eelke van Willegen (NL) came together for an 8-day symposium in the historic Halle 109 to work together with the steel sculptor Georg-Friedrich Wolf on the theme of "IKARUS - The Flight of Flight", both in terms of content and form.

The myth of Icarus is generally interpreted to mean that the fall and death of the overconfident man is the punishment of the gods for his impudent grab for the sun. At the same time, however, it also stands for the father-son or generational conflict. Both metaphors that fit our times extremely well.

The artists selected by a professional jury, consisting of Anne Berk - curator and vice-chair of Sculpture Network, Dr. Philipp Gutbrod, director of the Mathildenhöhe Institute, Tina Rosenfeld, cultural manager of the Darmstadt-Dieburg district and the organizer himself, were able to express themselves on the topic with mutual inspiration.

During the last three days of the symposium, interested parties were able to follow the creation process of the sculptures live. Numerous guests came to the final exhibition with a late-night performance by Kunstfabrik Darmstadt e.V. artists dm richmodis and Gunilda Wörnerand an artist talk with Berlin cultural manager Anemone Vostell to admire the newly created sculptures.