Damage to the columned hall of Stoa 169 - sculpture "robbed of its masculine characteristic"
Created: 02/08/2022, 06:00
By: Magnus Reitinger
The column by the Colombian artist Carlos Motta after the damage that has now been discovered.
© Stoa 169 Foundation
A pillar of the Stoa 169 project in Polling was badly damaged.
The operators of the columned hall can only speculate as to why.
It's the first major damage.
Polling – The first major damage occurred in the Stoa 169 columned hall. “Victim” is the pillar of the Colombian artist Carlos Motta, as the Stoa 169 Foundation reported on Monday: “We cannot understand whether the damage was caused by careless actions by children or by intention. In any case, the classic figure of a caryatid representing a hermaphrodite has been stripped of its masculine characteristic.”
According to press spokesman Gerald Meier, the damage amounts to "several thousand euros, since specialists have to come here to complete the work of art again".
If the repair is unsuccessful, the entire work of art may have to be replaced.
The operators of the columned hall on the Ammer can only speculate about the reasons for the damage.
"Would someone want to imitate Greek mythology?
Kronos also cut off his father's sex with a sickle in order to end the rule of injustice by Uranos," explains Meier in his press release - and adds with regard to possible motives: "We don't know."
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Column by sculptor and performance artist Carlos Motta
The column during the installation a few months ago in the Stoa 169 artists' column hall in Pollingen. © Stoa 169 Foundation
The sculptor and performance artist Carlos Motta, born in Bogotà in 1978, now lives in New York.
In addition to dealing with political and social injustices in Colombia and Latin America, part of his work examines historical narratives about sexuality and gender roles from colonial times to the present.
By the way: The visitor numbers in the Stoa 169 are developing “very positively compared to the previous year”, the operators write: “We will soon be able to welcome the 169,000th visitor.” The artists’ columned hall, which is located directly on the Ammer, was opened in September 2020. The total of 121 steles were designed by artists from all continents.
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