USA
* September 6, 1938 Electric City
† January 21, 2011 New York
Dennis Oppenheim first became known in the middle of the last century as an artist of Earth Art and Body Art. From the 1980s onward, he expanded his work to include monumental public sculptures, mostly colorful, bizarre structures that appear quite weird and sometimes even threatening to the viewer. They embody his explicit desire to bring art to a wider audience outside the galleries.
One outstanding example is “Device to Root Out Evil”, an approximately 7.5-meter-high sculpture depicting an inverted church, which has attracted both admiration and criticism. Unveiled in Venice in 1997, the so-called Upside-Down Church repeatedly changed its location until, after a long journey via Vancouver, Calgary and Palma de Mallorca, it finally found its current place in Calgary.
Oppenheim’s last work in public space is the illuminated double sculpture “Safety Cones”. The installation of the 5.5-meter-high pylons in Herford initially led to heated discussions and a referendum against the artwork, which, however, failed due to insufficient participation. The two oversized safety cones symbolize both protection and demarcation and are reminiscent of colorful lighthouses.
