Rocker
Sculpture possesses unique qualities, one of the main ones being the centrality of matter. This centrality means that the work not only occupies a space, but also transforms it by interacting with the environment constituted by that very same space. In the work of Philipp Röcker (Germany, 1984), this dialogue is pivotal, as can be seen in 'Rocker', his first exhibition at Galería Alegría, which consists of a monumental installation of enigmatic white plaster sculptures that invade the gallery's second room.
Having studied and developed at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art, Röcker matured a particular affinity towards materials such as plaster, bronze, concrete, clay, and wood. His practice allowed him to enhance the properties of these materials, making his sculptures able to stand out on their own, rather than limit their expression ability to their placing in an instrumental position. Operating in such manner makes possible for his works to still maintain a strong connection to the organic, although being primarily conceived and installed in an urban setting. His sculptures, which at first appear to dominate the room as large geological blocks, under a deeper and more curious gaze reveal a second, more microscopic landscape formed by cavities, ravines, and tunnels.
It is this dual spatial game - between what we see and what we discover - that demonstrates how sculpture can stand both as an object of external contemplation and as a subjective interior space that the viewer can access, following their gaze and intuition through the mediation of a matter that also seems engaged in imagining itself.
Thus, as one traverses the installation proposed by Philipp Röcker, it is difficult not to think of these rocks as archetypal figures of the human thought. Stone, and everything related to the geological, has always possessed immense contemplative and evocative power. It symbolizes both the deep creation of the Earth and a place that invites introspection, being simultaneously mysterious fruit of the planet's womb, deity, amulet, and temple. The marks and cracks in his sculptures evoke the passage of time, but also the idea of suspension, refuge, and the recovery of an intimate vision of the cosmos.
It is within the intricate core of these bodies, set against their monolithic roundness, that we find a proposal for a possible return to the primordial. Beneath the apparent occlusive and mineral hardness present in 'Rocker', the viewer may rediscover that stone of which the Peruvian poet José Watanabe said "kept us in its impenetrable intimacy" [1] and appreciate how, within that seeming impenetrability, the dialogue with matter is still capable of offering a humble yet forceful response to the immaterial and gratuitous complexity of the contemporary world.
[1] WATANABE, José. La piedra del río, included in his book La piedra alada. Editorial Pre-Textos. 2005.