A group of Münster citizens are coming together to raise funds towards acquiring Nicole Eisenman’s Sketch for a Fountain (2017), produced for the decennial Skulptur Projekte Müntser last year, The Art Newspaper reports. The sculpture, which consisted of a group of five androgynous bronze-and-plaster figures placed around a basin, was vandalised on several occasions with fascists slogans during the course of the show. ‘The work is a very political statement and we want to make a stand for tolerance and respect,’ says sculptor Sandra Silbernagel, one of the initiator of the campaign.
Silbernagel, together with art dealer Maria Galen, is aiming to raise €1.2m, with half coming from local businesses. Pinkus Müller, a local brewery, has developed a special ‘fountain beer’, with a label designed by Eisenman, while a local bakery is selling a ‘Fountain bread roll’, and two restaurants are planning ‘fountain dishes’. Part of the proceeds made from the sale of these products will go to the fountain fund. A city printer is also producing free flyers in support of the campaign to be distributed around town. The association, called Dein Brunnen für Münster (Your Fountain for Münster), is seeking to raise the remaining €600,000 from private foundations and public bodies.
Although Eisenman’s work was never intended to be permanent and was dismantled after the show ended in October, the American artist has started to work on a new bronze version as a result of the resident’s effort.
16 March 2018
