Peter Lenk
{{Short description|German sculptor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
File:Konstanz Imperia 01.jpg in Konstanz harbor]]
Peter Lenk (born 6 June 1947, in Nuremberg) is a German sculptor based in Bodman-Ludwigshafen on Lake Constance, known for the controversial sexual content of his public art.{{citation|url=http://www.suedkurier.de/region/schwarzwald-baar-heuberg/titisee-neustadt/hintergrund-titisee-neustadt/Peter-Lenk;art475594,3504618|title=Peter Lenk|journal=Südkurier|date=11 November 2008|language=German}}.
Art
File:Ueberlingen Bodenseereiter 1.jpg]]
File:Lenk Ludwigs Erbe detail 07.jpg. From left to right: Hans Eichel, Gerhard Schröder, Angela Merkel, Edmund Stoiber and Guido Westerwelle]]
Lenk's artworks include:
- Imperia, a ten-meter-tall rotating statue in the harbor of Konstanz, (Germany), depicting a fictional courtesan from a short story by Balzac.{{citation|title=Skulpturen und Skandale: Kunstkonflikte in Baden-Württemberg|volume=87|series=Untersuchungen des Ludwig-Uhland-Instituts der Universität Tübingen|first=Uwe|last=Degreif|language=German|publisher=Tübinger Vereinigung für Volkskunde|year=1997|isbn=978-3-925340-99-4}}. Although it was highly controversial when installed in 1993, today it is "the most photographed attraction in the city".{{citation|title=Ende einer Satire – Papst-Figur wieder entfernt|journal=Focus|url=http://www.focus.de/kultur/kunst/kunst-ende-einer-satire-papst-figur-wieder-entfernt_aid_530508.html|date=14 July 2010|language=German}}. A detail from the sculpture, a nude figure of Pope Martin V, was displayed in the Konstanz train station in 2010, but was removed after complaints from the Catholic church and CDU politicians.
- Ludwigs Erbe, a relief sculpture in the town square of Bodman-Ludwigshafen that shows various German politicians engaged in sexual play.{{citation|title=Comic Relief: Should Group Sex Be Public Art?|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,579318,00.html|journal=Der Spiegel|date=19 September 2008}}.{{citation|title=Racy Relief Causes Controversy in Germany|journal=Art+Auction|date=22 September 2008|url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/28626/racy-relief-causes-controversy-in-germany/}}.
- A sculpture on the exterior of the office building in Berlin that houses die Tageszeitung, depicting the editor of a competing newspaper sporting an enormous penis.{{citation|title=Berlin's History Res-Erected: Giant Penis Sparks Bizarre Media War|journal=Der Spiegel|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,664926,00.html|first=Thomas|last=Hüetlin|date=3 December 2009}}.{{citation|title=Phallic insult sparks German media feud: Mural mocking editor incenses new rival who wants to be taken seriously|journal=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/phallic-insult-sparks-german-media-feud-1834651.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/phallic-insult-sparks-german-media-feud-1834651.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|first=Tony|last=Paterson|date=5 December 2009}}.
- A sculpture of Volker Kauder wearing only a skirt made of bananas, like one worn by Josephine Baker, for a benefit auction.{{citation|title=Kauder: "Gut getroffen!"|journal=Neue Rottweiler Zeitung|language=German|url=http://www.nrwz.de/v5/getBestArticles/00032444|date=25 April 2010|access-date=16 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070426/http://www.nrwz.de/v5/getBestArticles/00032444|archive-date=19 July 2011|url-status=dead}}.
- A statue of German writer Martin Walser wearing ice skates while he rides a horse that stands on the tails of two giant reclining mermaids in a fountain, at the boat landing in Überlingen.{{citation|title=Literatur: Überlingen ehrt Martin Walser|journal=Die Zeit|date=13 February 2007|url=http://www.zeit.de/news/artikel/2007/02/13/92063.xml|language=German}}.
- Hölderlin im Kreisverkehr, a monument to German poet Friedrich Hölderlin installed in 2003 in a traffic roundabout in Lauffen am Neckar.{{citation|title=Eine neue Heimstatt für Hölderlin in Lauffen|journal=Stuttgarter Zeitung|url=http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/1663968_0_9223_-geburtstagsgeschenk-eine-neue-heimstatt-fuer-hoelderlin-in-lauffen.html|date=20 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318055749/http://content.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/1663968_0_9223_-geburtstagsgeschenk-eine-neue-heimstatt-fuer-hoelderlin-in-lauffen.html |archive-date=18 March 2012|first=Brigitte|last=Fritz-Kador|language=German}}.
Books
Lenk is the author or co-author of:
- Skulpturen: Bilder, Briefe, Kommentare (Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2005, {{ISBN|978-3-7977-0516-7}}).
- Magische Säule Meersburg: Skulpturen (with Helmut Weidhase, Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-7977-0540-2}}).
References
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External links
{{commons and category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.peter-lenk.de/}} {{in lang|de}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Visual arts |portal3= Germany}}
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Category:German male sculptors