Exhibition in memory of the sculptor Stephan Derben
Under the title Adieu, the Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover e.V. is showing works by former association and board member Stephan Derben in his sculptor’s studio at Hallerstraße 29a, accompanied by a photo reportage by photographer Michael Hauri and an audiovisual composition by Alexander Derben. The supporting programme and background will be provided by artist and sister Jana Kluge and publicist Michael Stoeber.
Stephan Derben was born in Münster in 1951. He initially studied social psychology and education in Hanover, then came to Hamburg at the end of the 1970s for an art workshop project. After working in ceramics, photography, drawing and painting, he began sculpting in 1987. He returned to Hanover in 1988 and worked as a freelance artist. He favoured working on tree trunks with a chainsaw, but he also mastered the welding machine.
Photo documentation by Michael Hauri and video by Alexander Derben
In 2005, photographer Michael Hauri was looking for a photo model from the high-contrast, border-crossing areas of human existence for his student research project at the Hanover University of Art, and so, in a friendly relationship, portraits of life and work situations of sculptor Stephan Derben were created. After two years of intensive collaboration between the photographer and his protagonist, Hauri provided Stephan Derben’s nephew Alexander with the material of around 4000 photos as film material, who used it to realise the audiovisual montage ‘Work in Progress’. This memorable, highly sensitive portrait of an artist in search of the meaning of life received the IFCT Award, Washington DC, USA for the best animation in 2008.
Stephan Derben was born in Münster in 1951. He initially studied social psychology and education in Hanover, then came to Hamburg at the end of the 1970s for an art workshop project. After working in ceramics, photography, drawing and painting, he began sculpting in 1987. He returned to Hanover in 1988 and worked as a freelance artist. He favoured working on tree trunks with a chainsaw, but he also mastered the welding machine.
Farewell
Exhibition in memory of the sculptor Stephan Derben
Thursday, 5 December 2019, 6 pm
Introduction: Michael Stoeber, Timm Ulrichs, Nikolaus Derben
Organiser: Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover e.V. in collaboration with Jana Kluge, Cornelia Leunig, Rainer Wichering and Almut Pyritz