Lutz Fritsch Antarctica | 20 Jahre »Bibliothek im Eis«

31.01.2025 - 22.02.2025 Portfolio

Lutz Fritsch is known for his site-specific large-scale sculptures. The exhibition »Antarctica« at Galerie Christian Lethert celebrates one of these sculptures: 20 years of »Bibliothek im Eis« (Library in the Ice). In addition to documentary insights, films, drawings and new works are on display that bear witness to the sculptor’s preoccupation and fascination with the endless expanses of the Antarctic and Arctic.

On January 19, 2005, a container was placed in the ice not far from the Neumayer II (since 2009 Neumayer III) research station in Antarctica. The 20-foot, specially isolated and fitted container contains the world’s southernmost library. Lutz Fritsch, who was the first artist to take part in three expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, conceived this sculpture, this art project: as a space for exchange between science and art. In fact, there are now more than 800 books in the library. Invited by Lutz Fritsch scientist and artists donate these books with dedication. The artist has given a green oasis, a place full of stories, to the hibernators who spend 15 months pursuing their research in this inhospitable environment.

In the exhibition, sketches, photographs and a documentary film bear witness to the creation and realization of the project. Lutz Fritsch turned his gaze to the infinite expanses, to the ice in its various shades, its breaking and tearing or the drifting on black water. He kept his impressions with a camera or captured them directly on paper. In the works exhibited in the back room, »Packeis I-VI«, 1994, he drew the surrounding pack ice, including wind and swell, in its various hatchings with watercolor and graphite. The film »Balance«, 2005, which follows Lutz Fritsch in his artistic research to explore the state of this extreme space, is also shown in the second room. The »Antarktis-Block«, 2005, exhibited in the first room, combines 16 watercolors of icebergs frozen in pack ice in a wide variety of light situations, with the artist focusing on the shady sides and their fascinating color variations. New wall works drift across the exhibition walls like floes of sea ice, shimmering in shades of white and blue. The lack of scale and loneliness that the artist experienced in the white deserts of snow and ice are also reflected in these works.

In a rapidly changing world, the exhibition »Antarctica« invites visitors to explore the fragile beauty of the natural world and the value of culture.

Antarktis-Block, 2005 | watercolor on paper, 16-part, each 30 x 42 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Antarktis-Block, 2005 | watercolor on paper, 16-part, each 30 x 42 cm
Bibliothek im Eis, 2004 | lacquer on wood, 5 x 5 x 12.5 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Bibliothek im Eis, 2004 | lacquer on wood, 5 x 5 x 12.5 cm
Packeis I, 1994 | watercolor, graphite on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Packeis I, 1994 | watercolor, graphite on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
Antarctica VI - 05, 2024 | acrylic on MDF, 87 x 69 x 2.5 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Antarctica VI - 05, 2024 | acrylic on MDF, 87 x 69 x 2.5 cm
Antarctica XI-05, 2024 | acrylic on MDF, 2-part, 140 x 155 x 2 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Antarctica XI-05, 2024 | acrylic on MDF, 2-part, 140 x 155 x 2 cm
Steht!, 2024 | lacquer on aluminum, wood, 159.5 x 20 x 20 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Steht!, 2024 | lacquer on aluminum, wood, 159.5 x 20 x 20 cm
Packeis V, 1994 | watercolor, graphite on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Packeis V, 1994 | watercolor, graphite on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
Eisberg Antarktis, 2005 | photography, 40 x 60 cm
Inquiry Lutz Fritsch Eisberg Antarktis, 2005 | photography, 40 x 60 cm

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