A beauty awaits travellers at Frankfurt Airport, Deutsche Bahn buys an Andreas Schmitten artwork

ART

A beauty awaits travellers at

Frankfurt airport railway station

Deutsche Bahn installs a work of art by Andreas Schmitten

May 2024

„IMMATERIELLES“ by Andreas Schmitten © Andreas Fechner

Düsseldorf, May 2024: From 6 June 2024, travellers at Frankfurt's airport railway station will encounter a work of art by one of Germany's most important artists, Andreas Schmitten. A beauty that fits in with the immaculate yet mysterious sculptures for which the artist is so famous.

A larger-than-life head is carried by three hands that seem to grow out of the floor of the railway station. „IMMATERIELLES“ is the title of the sculpture, which is over five metres high and is on permanent loan to the site.

Andreas Schmitten has had a remarkable career as an artist. It is said that Tony Cragg is a big fan and that he found him "striking" at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, where Schmitten was a master student in Georg Herold's class. In 2013, Schmitten was also allowed to show his objects in Cragg's Waldfrieden sculpture park in Wuppertal. Schmitten is one of the best-known German artists - his work is extremely diverse. He not only creates drawings and sculptures, but also furniture and interior design. In Düsseldorf, his work on the Schmela Haus, a permanent installation since 2013, is well known. Another eye-catching work was the design of the former home of the Ludwig collector couple in Aachen. He painted the façade magenta and installed colourful canopies and awnings to make it look like an Art Deco Hollywood villa. The canopy is an element that seems to fascinate the artist. It appears in many of his works.

Die Deutsche Bahn and art

With the "Station to Station" art project, the Deutsche Bahn wants to create artistic impulses in places that are among the most frequented in a city. Behind "Station to Station" is the enterprising cultural manager Prof Walter Smerling. He founded the Bonn-based "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V." (Foundation for Art and Culture) back in 1986. He launched the Bahn project in 2023 and chose Bettina Pousttchi as the first artist. Smerling said at the time that he wanted to create a "poetic space" - Pousttchi's bright red, angular "Vertical Highways" at Berlin Central Station polarised some people, however. Incidentally, Pousttchi also studied at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie and she also exhibited in Cragg's sculpture park. "IMMATERIELLES" is on permanent loan to Deutsche Bahn from the "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V.".

Schmitten's white, smooth, flawless work could not be a clearer contrast to the work of his predecessor Pousttchi. One of the main aspects of travelling is waiting, but a train station could also be a place of encounter when you are waiting for your train. Art can do so much, but in the case of Schmitten's round, gleaming sculpture, it is certainly an calming and inspiring effect.

——

Official unveiling of the sculpture "IMMATERIELLES" by Andreas Schmitten on 6 June, 12 noon

Frankfurt Airport Fernbahnhof | Level 3 Hugo-Eckener-Ring, 60549 | Frankfurt am Main