Peter Lenk
Encyclopedia
Peter Lenk is a German sculptor based in Bodman-Ludwigshafen
on Lake Constance
, known for the controversial sexual content of his public art.
Bodman-Ludwigshafen
Bodman-Ludwigshafen is a village in the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The mayor is Matthias Weckbach.The village is located near the Lake Constance ....
on Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
, known for the controversial sexual content of his public art.
Art
Lenk's artworks include:- ImperiaImperia (statue)The Imperia is a statue at the entrance of the harbour of Konstanz, Germany, commemorating the Council of Constance that took place there between 1414 and 1418. The concrete statue is 9 metres high, weighs 18 tonnes, and stands on a pedestal that rotates around its axis once every four minutes...
, a ten-meter-tall rotating statue in the harbor of KonstanzKonstanzKonstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, depicting a fictional prostitute from a short story by Balzac. Although it was highly controversial when installed in 1993, today it is "the most photographed attraction in the city". A detail from the sculpture, a nude figure of Pope Martin VPope Martin VPope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
, was displayed in the Konstanz train station in 2010, but was removed after complaints from the Catholic church and CDUChristian Democratic Union (Germany)The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
politicians. - A relief sculpture in the town square of Bodman-LudwigshafenBodman-LudwigshafenBodman-Ludwigshafen is a village in the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The mayor is Matthias Weckbach.The village is located near the Lake Constance ....
that shows various German politicians engaged in sexual play. - A sculpture on the exterior of the office building in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
that houses die TageszeitungDie tageszeitungdie tageszeitung , was founded in 1978 in Berlin. It is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper which is administrated by a workers' self-management...
, depicting the editor of a competing newspaper sporting an enormous penis. - A sculpture of Volker KauderVolker KauderVolker Kauder is a German CDU politician. Since 21 November 2005 he has been Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag after a short term as Secretary General of the CDU. He has been a member of parliament since 1990.-External links:...
wearing only a skirt made of bananas, like one worn by Josephine BakerJosephine BakerJosephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, for a benefit auction. - A statue of German writer Martin WalserMartin WalserAt first the speech did not cause a great stir. Indeed, the audience present in Church of St. Paul received the speech with applause, though Walser's critic Ignatz Bubis did not applaud, as confirmed by television footage of the event...
wearing ice skates while he rides a horse that stands on the tails of two giant reclining mermaids in a fountain, at the boat landing in ÜberlingenÜberlingenÜberlingen is a city on the northern shore of Lake Constance . After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodenseekreis , and a central point for the outlying communities...
. - "Hölderlin im Kreisverkehr", a monument to German poet Friedrich HölderlinFriedrich HölderlinJohann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his...
installed in 2003 in a traffic roundabout in Lauffen am Neckar.
Books
Lenk is the author or co-author of:- Skulpturen: Bilder, Briefe, Kommentare (Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2005, ISBN 978-3797705167).
- Magische Säule Meersburg: Skulpturen (with Helmut Weidhase, Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2007, ISBN 978-3797705402).