Nicole Eisenman, Fountain, 2017

Video (1:44): Nicole Eisenman, Fountain, 2017 by Hauser & Wirth.

“Since 2012, Nicole Eisenman has been increasingly involved with sculpture, a medium she appreciates for its tactile and sensual qualities. The major outdoor work ‘Fountain’ (2017) is an all-bronze edition of ‘Sketch for a Fountain’, which made its debut at the Skulptur Projekte Münster, Germany in 2017 and has since been installed at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas and Boston’s Fenway neighbourhood, both in 2019. With her fountain design, Eisenman has interpreted one of the oldest examples of public art in a subtle transformation, responding to opulent arrangements and the role of sculpture within traditional meeting places to convey a sense of calm and organic correlation between nature, culture and identity. The ensemble of pensive bronze figures take a relaxed formation evoking associations with a range of art historical precedents, including Greco-Roman representations of hermaphrodites, Paul Cézanne’s Bathers and George Segal’s introspective figures.

Following its initial unveiling, the citizens of Münster have been involved in a three-year fundraising effort, involving more than 10,000 individual donations to bring the fountain back to the city permanently. The public initiative, ‘Dein Brunnen für Münster’, founded by Maria Galen and Sandra Silbernage, have stated that the work ‘stands for a peaceful, open society, for equality and tolerance’. The new placement in front of Durslade Farmhouse in the farmyard of Hauser & Wirth Somerset further emphasises Eisenman’s recreation of idyllic serenity and feels particularly poignant in this moment as we try to navigate coming together in ‘real life’ meetings.” – Hauser & Wirth

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