Robert Metzkes

The human figure is at the centre of the work of Berlin sculptor Robert Metzkes. His sometimes almost life-size sculptures or statuettes made of colourfully engobed terracotta - individual figures, groups, torsos, busts and heads - are always based on the model, on nature, but are given an idealised, timeless character by means of form, painting, clothing or their location in the world of the Commedia dell'Arte. Metzkes' portraits of people are introverted, even in movement, such as the "Dancing Girl" from 2019. The young woman in a blue-striped dress with orange dots looks over her left shoulder in a relaxed, dance-like movement. Holding her head slightly bent, her blue eyes are not directed outwards, towards a counterpart, but rather show her introspection. Smiling pensively, the expression of the "Dancing Girl" is characterised by a calm, contemplative joy in her dancing movements.
Even though Robert Metzkes usually chooses the colours of his sculptures from the range of natural clay colours such as ochre, red, orange, brown, white and grey, and the range of ceramic colours cannot be compared with that of painting due to the firing temperature, Metzkes' work nevertheless also includes the colour blue, which the artist combines here, in the dress of the "Dancing Girl", with its complementary colour orange.