Within the field of sculpture in the 1950s and 1960s, Hanspeter Fitz – who worked primarily in Stuttgart and died at an early age – carved out a distinctive position for himself. Working predominantly with wood, stone and iron, he is regarded as one of the few sculptors in south-west Germany to have worked consistently in an abstract style from the very beginning.
For the new St. Elisabeth Kirche, he designed the non-representational relief in 1962–63 using a cast concrete technique. Extending from both sides of the portal and matching its height, the relief band runs along the curved external façade of the massive, block-like and otherwise completely unadorned building. The wall installation is structured strictly in a geometric-constructivist manner according to the principle of sequencing and derives its formal shape from the multi-layered interlocking and interweaving of vertically aligned ribs, pillars and surfaces of varying lengths and widths.
The extremely fragmented and restless, almost expressive surface texture dynamically engages the viewer’s gaze and effectively breaks up the hermetically sealed form of the building at the plinth level. Interstices and voids form narrow window openings, the position and size of which are entirely dictated by the relief structure. A rhythmic interplay between wall surface and surrounding space, interior and exterior, projections and recesses, positive and negative forms, statics and dynamics, austerity and vitality characterises the lively expressiveness of this sculpture, which is inextricably linked to sacred architecture. This powerful work is the artist’s only completed architectural sculpture.
Text and editing: Kunstmuseum Singen
