Kempten - The audience award ceremony was not just an exciting evening for the exhibiting artists from "Art from the Allgäu 2021".
“Who will be awarded for which work?” The coveted audience award was given to the sculptor Kristina Johlige Tolstoy, who lives in Oy-Mittelberg, for her work of art “Magic Mushroom”.
The second and third prize winners were also honored.
The artist Vanessa Isabelle Müller received second prize for her multi-media installation “Superfluous” and Lucia Thanner was honored with third place for her interesting installation “Epigenetics”.
The visitors to the large art exhibition were able to take part as a jury in advance and suggest the work of art that particularly appealed to them for the audience award.
The artist Kristina Johlige Tolstoy received the most mentions.
Endowed with 500 euros
During the closing event, Lord Mayor Thomas Kiechle presented the sculptor with the 500 euro prize sponsored by TeleDat GmbH.
“A very special item on the program of this exhibition is honoring the artists with the audience award,” emphasized Kiechle in his opening speech.
We had a difficult time behind us.
Due to the corona, the art exhibition took place for the second year in a row without the roof of the Allgäu Festival Week, said the mayor.
Since the beginning of the festival week in 1949, she has been closely linked to the major exhibition with Allgäu artists.
Visitors give feedback
For him it was particularly gratifying that the art exhibition was made accessible to the public again. A look at the statistics shows that it was very well received, emphasized Kiechle. 1,200 visitors, including school classes, were interested in the 66 works of art on display. The young people have their very own approach to art, they could do something with the works, explained Kiechle.
The comments in the guest book reflected very different attitudes towards the exhibited works, explained Kiechle. "Contemporary art is a good reflection of the Allgäu and the debate in society." The content of art has an effect on us, there is a lot of communication. Following on from this, the public was now called upon to comment on the exhibition.
From “diversity and inventiveness” to “exchanging ideas” and “great idea from the city of Kempten to have this exhibition held here” to “I like a lot, some I don't understand, or I don't like it or sometimes you need one Explanation ”was enough.
For example, a teacher who visited the exhibition with her school class said that the children often favored the abstract works.
"Simply created"
The award-winning work “Magic Mushroom” was created simply, intuitively, explained the sculptor Tolstoy. They found a tree fungus and then looked for a suitable piece of wood. The figurative work is reminiscent of an Egyptian sphinx. Roman mythology could also have been the godfather. There are two sides, a light and a dark, a round and an angular one, explained the artist, comparable to a Janus head. The round mushroom flows into a striking, expressive face. Two natural materials combine to form a complete work, which makes it appear very lively to the viewer.
The work of art shows a finely carved head with a round hood on a base. "The head was not yet finished, but the work spoke to me, it really wanted to go to the exhibition," said the sculptor with a smile.
Your works are always created intuitively, thoughts and analyzes only come after completion, said Tolstoy, describing the process of creation.
“The natural materials talk to us.” The award came as a surprise to her, as she had only found out about it 30 minutes beforehand in her studio, said the winner.
Justification of an individual's life in a large group
The large-scale installation “Superfluous” is an ode to the spark of life and compassion. A place that was granted so that the drones of a beehive were not superfluous, explained the artist Vanessa Isabelle Müller, who was honored with the second place.
The work depicts the relationship between an individual and a group in times of natural and climatic crises. It symbolizes the superorganism of a honey beehive and its drones, which are only born to ensure the reproduction of the bee colony.
The installation shows 1,000 filigree vessels that were individually made from beeswax and made by hand.
In her work, Müller dealt with the question of the legitimacy of an individual's life in a large group of people.
"The installation has a poetic and a scientific side."
Art as genealogy
For Lucia Thanner, who was honored as the third winner, her installation “Epigenetics” symbolizes a kind of family tree.
The “Heinzen” wooden sticks used represent the family, which changes during their lifetime.
The work is connected with a little genealogy.
There had been many conversations in the family that brought experiences from the past to life.
The braided strands that connect the Heinzen stand for DNA, explained the artist.
Hence the name "epigenetics".
The finissage was musically accompanied by the young musician Julia Fröhlich.