The third ‘friend request’ from the Von der Heydt Museum is addressed to the sculptor Markus Karstieß. The artist was born in Haan in 1971 and studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in the class of Jannis Kounellis. He is known for his consistent and innovative work with the archaic material of ceramics, to which he lends contemporary relevance.
Markus Karstieß uses the third friendship request to question his own works in relation to those of the collection of classical modernism. Karstieß' selection is not so much guided by a particular formal language, epoch or art movement. Rather, he seeks out works that touch him and in which he recognises parallels in the artistic approach as a counterpart for the unusual staging of his own sculptures. What is surprising is that he finds more points of contact in painting, for example in Edvard Munch and Paula Modersohn-Becker, than in sculpture.
Markus Karstieß had solo and group exhibitions in museums in Germany and abroad. Since 2017, he has been head of the Free Art Ceramics class at the Institute for Artistic Ceramics and Glass at the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences. He is involved in numerous exhibition projects as a curator. He draws on ancient ceramic techniques in his formally diverse works. His sculptures are based on traditional craftsmanship, but are clearly characterised by contemporary themes.
‘Freundschaftsanfrage’ (friendship request) is a series of exhibitions in which the Von der Heydt Museum invites renowned contemporary artists to engage with the museum's extensive holdings. In this way, works by Markus Karstieß will enter into a direct dialogue with works from the Von der Heydt Museum's collection. Photographer Hans-Christian Schink and painter Franziska Holstein were invited to the museum earlier on.
