"I am interested in literature, art history, geology, conceptual art, post-war comics, modernism... I find my inspiration in books, on the Internet, and in video games. Greek mythology meets Pacman. It's not just about history—we live in the present moment, after all." — Stefan Rinck
Representative of the artist's sculptural work, the It Owl figure evokes various creatures, drawing inspiration from ancient myths, medieval bestiaries, and Aztec legends, but also, iconoclastically, from pop culture, emojis, and film history. Amusing, strange, and chimerical, Stefan Rinck's colorful idols blur our contemporary narratives and seem to reconcile seemingly contradictory forms and memories. The artist describes his work as "wild abstraction," in which history, psychology, rituals, fantasy, magic, aesthetics, and craftsmanship come together to reveal everything we have buried in our subconscious. Technically, his practice is rooted in the ancient tradition of sculpture. His works retain a brutalist aura, revealing all the traces of a "battle" with and against the stone as one gets closer.
The It Owl figure was exhibited at FIAC in 2021 at the Jardin des Tuileries and in Le Havre for "Un été au Havre" in 2023.
Rinck studied art history and philosophy at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, as well as sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe. Rinck has exhibited internationally, including at the Museum De Hallen (Haarlem), Sorry We’re Closed (Brussels), Nino Mier Gallery (New York & Los Angeles), Skarstedt (East Hampton), Semiose (Paris), Vilma Gold (London), Rüdiger Schöttle (Munich), The Breeder (Athens), Galeria Alegria (Madrid & Barcelona), among others. He participated in the Busan Biennale in South Korea, Vent des Forêts, and La Forêt d’Art Contemporain in France, where he created monumental sculptures in public spaces. In 2018, Les Mangoustes de Beauvais were permanently installed in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, and in 2021, the sandstone sculpture Why I bear/Großer Lastenbär was inaugurated on Zionskirchplatz in Berlin. His works are included in public collections worldwide, including at CBK Rotterdam, the Museum of the Lottery, FRAC Corsica, and the Sammlung Krohne, among others. In 2019, Rinck was featured in the publication 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow by Thames & Hudson. The documentary Heart of Stone by Sonja Baeger premiered in Berlin in 2021 and showcases the creation process of Rinck's three monumental sculptures.
Presented by Valerius Gallery.
