Ulrich Rückriem

Koenig & Clinton is pleased to announce Ulrich Rückriem, the Gallery’s first solo exhibition with the artist. The exhibition presents a single artwork comprised of seven sculptures, entitled The Last Fifty Years (2015), complimented by a suite of forty-nine drawings that document simple geometrical forms undergoing methodical transformations. This presentation at Koenig & Clinton constitutes Rückriem’s first solo exhibition in New York in nearly two decades.

Ulrich Rückriem (b.1938, Düsseldorf) began his career as a stonemason at Cologne Cathedral from 1959–1961, the influence of which is manifest in his artistic practice. Geometric forms and a rational, systematic concept of structure characterize Rückriem’s oeuvre; his insistence on making intelligible all traces of his material interventions affirms his stature as a prominent figure in establishing Process art as a response to Minimalism.

Rückriem’s sculptures draw heavily on his knowledge of how a given volume of stone, metal, or timber can be manipulated, as well as his familiarity with how any one of those materials might react to various types of technical handling. The forms of Rückriem’s sculptures remain faithful to their origins: an artwork’s title describes its material, as well as the singular procedure by which it has been altered — forged, milled, cut, cleft, etc. — tracing the sculpture’s articulation back to its beginning. Medium, process, and tool are unified in fundamental sculpture — tangible and without illusion.

Ulrich Rückriem (b. 1938, Düsseldorf) lives and works in Cologne and London. From 1957 until 1959 he apprenticed as a stonecutter in Düren, followed by employment as a journeyman at the Dombauhütte workshops of Cologne Cathedral. Before starting his academic career as a professor at several Fine Art Academies in Germany (Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, State Academy of Art in Düsseldorf, Städel Art Institut in Frankfurt/Main), Rückriem worked as a free-lance artist producing minimalist sculptures from stone, steel and rarely from wood.

Many of Rückriem’s works are accessible to the public in public spaces, mostly in Europe. Rückriem has also partaken in many national and international exhibitions in museums and galleries since the mid-1960s. He had solo exhibitions at the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin (1998, 2004, 2009), Hamburger Kunsthalle (2005) and Museum Ludwig Cologne (2007) and participated at the 38. Biennale die Venezia (1978), documenta 7 (1982), 8 (1987), 9 (1992). His works are represented in several public collections, for example the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, the Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, the Fondation Cartier Paris, the ARCO Foundation Collection Madrid or the MACBA Barcelona. Rückriem has received several prizes and awards, including the Förderpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen für Bildende Kunst (1973), the Konrad-von-Soest-Preis (1984), the Deutsche Kritikerpreis für den Bereich Bildende Kunst (1984), the Arnold-Bode-Preis from the documenta-capital Kassel (1985), the Piepenbrock Preis für Skulptur (1998), the Große Kulturpreis der Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland (2001) and the Kunstpreis des Kreises Düren (2015).