Stefan Strumbel

With his art, Strumbel initiates a change in social values: Traditional ideals, clichéd notions of home and the reality of the individual are dissolved and transformed into an aesthetic that becomes an allegory of social status symbols. He exposes the mechanism of a society that in its desire for status and the pursuit of consumerism surrenders to the constant attraction of the media. With his transformed objects, Strumbel successfully creates an illusionary world, which reflects societies real maladies.

Aluminium objects and bronze sculptures mark a new direction in the creative process by Stefan Strumbel. In his current work, he has developed his leitmotif towards a more universal language. By incorporating bronze and aluminium in his practice, he reduces the range of colors to monochrome compositions, that receive their colors from patinating the surfaces. The objects resemble packaged canvases and sculptures. The bubble wrap and tape cast in aluminium and bronze deny access to the expected content: In reference to Marcel Duchamp‘s concept of the Readymade, Strumbel turns simple packaging into a fetish object. As an objet trouvé from a gallery or museum’s day-to-day routine, these works can also be considered a critical reflection on today‘s art market.

Submitted by Ruttkowski;68