Artist Talk with Olaf Metzel

7pm

The CCA and the Goethe Institute present an artist talk by Olaf Metzel followed by a discussion with the artist on provocation and censorship moderated by CCA Curator Chen Tamir.

Olaf Metzel is one of Germany’s leading established artists. His work, which usually focuses on complex and sensitive issues such as racism, violence, or institutional power, is often displayed in public places in an attempt to spur public discussion over political and social issues. 13.04.1981, consisting of piles of road barriers, is probably his most famous work. Created in 1987, it makes reference to the 1981 Berlin riots triggered by a false report of the death of RAF prisoner Sigurd Debus. The sculpture was fiercely protested, so much so that the Berlin Senate finally ordered its dismantling. Metzel’s 2006 sculpture Turkish Delight features a female nude wearing a headscarf, and was targeted by vandals at Vienna’s Karlsplatz until it was consequently removed.

Olaf Metzel (b. 1952, West Berlin, based in Berlin) has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions in Germany and beyond at institutions such as the Museum fur Modern Kunst in Bremen, the Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel, and the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden. He also participated in Documenta in 1987 and 1997 and has won numerous awards for his work, including the Kurt Eisner Award, the Arnold Bode Prize, and the Prize of the City of Munich.