Lost in thought, a father and son stand together. This is the Sohn und Vater Statue. It is located on the banks of the Rhine near the South Bridge in the Bayenthal district.
Have you ever paused to consider the story behind a work of art? This sculpture, titled Sohn und Vater is by an unknown artist. The artist only goes by Joachim X.
The statue has become a surprise for many walkers. Few know the story behind Sohn und Vater Statue. The artist wishes to remain anonymous.
The decisive clue was the abbreviation stamped at the foot of the work “eX99”. Odo Rumpf knew who was behind the “eX99”.
Joachim X was already at our meeting in front of his work. It is about 100 meters south of the South Bridge on the left bank of the Rhine. He wanted to photograph his work.
Unfortunately, the battery of the analog camera was empty. He didn’t know what riddle his sculpture had already made in social networks. The work was not officially approved. But it would be tolerated. The city already knows.
The artist and his friends had given the installation of the sculpture an “official” look with signs and safety vests. When they assembled it, the water police drove by twice.
The sculpture depicts father and son. Or more precisely, Sohn und Vater. There is a small but subtle difference. Joachim X created it for his son.
He became a father about four years ago. Half a year later, the idea for the artwork was born. Joachim X has a close relationship with the Rhine. He wanted to dedicate an autobiographical work of art to this intimate experience.
Three and a half years passed from the first idea to its realization. In early 2012, he noticed the empty concrete base. It was above the embankment. It was formerly part of a landing bridge. The ideal location for a sculpture.
A competition in Bad Godesberg was the final trigger. Joachim X began to implement it. First, he built a clay model on a scale of 1:10. A skeleton of round bars was the solution. Like a three-dimensional drawing.
The artist could hold the steel sheets in his studio. He could bend, cut and weld them accordingly. Almost three months of work went into the 170 kg work.
Initially, it was in Bad Godesberg from spring of that year. At the end of September, the “official” performance took place here on the banks of the Rhine. Sohn und Vater came home.
What is “eX99”? It was an artist group. Founded in 1986. In an upper floor of the former jam factory in Xantener Straße 99. In Nippes. Joachim X lived and worked together with three other craftsmen and artists. Including his brother, a stonemason, and a ceramic artist. Furniture was initially made from waste and scrap. Later, three of the artists left Xantener Straße 99.
Joachim X moved to his girlfriend in the Südstadt. He kept the slightly varied logo “aX99” of the former artist group. Sohn und Vater is not his only gift to the Südstadt.