Thomas Stimm

The flower has virtually become a "trademark" in Stimm's work. It stands for growth power and is a tongue-in-cheek, almost literal throwback to the flower power lifestyle of the flower children of the late sixties. This artist's works are characterised by a condensed mode of representation that seemingly operates with the simplicity of a brand. Stimm finds his models in comics and those art forms that - like Pop Art - prefer the everyday to the significant. This seemingly catchy language of form, oriented towards the emblem, does not remain on the surface, however, but proves to be open and resistant. The radiantly opulent colourfulness of his sculptures alone attracts the viewer's attention again and again.

Over time, Stimm condensed the statement more and more into individual objects. He created his real trademark from the 1990s onwards with almost childishly simple meadow pieces, fruit, blossom and flower sculptures. Plants, in particular, represented a challenge for him, not least because of his artistic work on the consistent shifting of relationships, to dare to approach the large scale again.
He himself sees these art plants first and foremost as "steles" - in other words, quite classical sculptural bodies. In this way, he says, "they have something to do with nature, but also with people, insofar as they also have something stele-like - as standing on a small ground surface". And to go one step further: In this way, the sculptures are explicitly infiltrated into the social circuit and become an element of public space.