Born in Aachen in 1953, Norbert Radermacher is a German visual artist, particularly known for his interventions and objects in public spaces. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf from 1973 to 1979, among others, under the supervision of Irmin Kamp. In 1979, he received a scholarship from the Ernst Forberg Foundation. In 1980, thanks to a scholarship from the Franco-German Youth Agency, he traveled to Paris for a year, where he secured funding for a walking tour. Each month, a work dedicated to a specific location was created in the urban space. The studio at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin was associated with the move to Berlin in 1983. In 1985, Radermacher exhibited his work there in the exhibition “1945–1985: Art in the Federal Republic of Germany” at the Neue Nationalgalerie. In 1987, Radermacher participated in documenta 8. In 1988, he received a workshop scholarship from Philip Morris. In 1991, Radermacher was appointed visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From 1992 to 2018, he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kassel and, for a time, its vice-rector. From 2004 to 2010, Radermacher served as president of the International Artists’ Committee. Radermacher lives and works in Berlin.
Awards (selection):
1985 Vordemberge-Gildewart Scholarship
1989 RENTA Award, Nuremberg; August Seeling Award, Duisburg
1990 Villa Romana Award, Florence
Solo exhibitions (selection)
A catalogue was published for exhibitions marked with the letter “K.”
1983 Dairy Workshop, Cologne; Giannozzo Gallery, Berlin
1985 Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin K
1987 Society for Contemporary Art, Bremen K ; Saarbrücken Municipal Gallery K ; Mueller-Roth Gallery, Stuttgart K
1988 Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen
1989 Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
1991 State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich K ; Sophienhof Municipal Gallery, Cologne
1993 Institute of Modern Art, Nuremberg / Wiesbaden Museum K
1994 Würzburg Municipal Gallery
1994 Kassel Art Association, Kassel
1995 Sprengel Museum, Hanover K
1996 New Weserburg Museum, Bremen K ; De Zonnehof, Amersfoort (Netherlands) K
Many of Radermacher’s works were placed in public spaces in the city, in the so-called “works for cities,” as he calls them. They can be found in cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bonn, Duisburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Brussels, Paris, Marseille, Zaragoza, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. On bridges, ramps, traffic islands, walls—in inconspicuous “non-places” where one wouldn’t expect to find art, Radermacher installs objects that, at first glance, are unrecognizable as works of art. Radermacher’s “monuments” are intended to be discovered by the wandering eye, without prior preparation, encouraging pause and reflection.
POLAR is a circular stone slab, divided in half. One half is white (marble), the other black. Set flush with the surface of the Market Square, it becomes a subtle yet significant element of the urban space. Throughout the day, depending on the sun’s position, various light phenomena occur on POLAR’s surface – the interplay of light and shadow gives it a changing, almost living character. Sometimes the slab is completely in shadow, other times in full sun, and sometimes the boundary between light and shadow intersects it in a particularly symbolic way. POLAR’s position was chosen precisely – so that during the summer solstice, on the longest day of the year, around 6:00 PM, the line separating white from black exactly coincides with the natural line of shadow cast by the surroundings (the sun/shadow line). This moment becomes the installation’s climax. Although small in physical scale, POLAR references a larger order – the cosmic rhythms and the relationship between Earth and the Sun. It is a symbolic point of contact between the everyday and the universal.
