Werner Pokorny

Werner Pokorny, a German sculptor born in 1949, studied sculpture at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts. It was to be a milestone in his life – first a student then a teacher, he has doubtless been an inspiration to an entire generation of young artists. Now based in Ettlingen (Germany), he has made Corten steel his material of choice, although wood also features in his sculptures. Pokorny’s work is significantly inspired by the idea of houses in their most elementary form. He represents them simplistically, yet recognisably, in a variety of positions : piled up, sloping, balancing… His sculptures situate the home in direct relation with the outside world, a metaphor for the role of art in public space. By presenting his work this way, the artist defines the spaces in which we live, and gives them an energy that goes beyond any purely pragmatic function. Pokorny develops a distinctive style through which we discover, and imagine, a powerful tension between complexity and simplicity. His works are as varied in form as the sites for which they are intended, from quietly modest to frankly monumental.