Multi-dimensional artist Matthias Alfen posed for pictures while inside one of his “Body Mobile” creations in New York’s Times Square.
In the driveway of artist Matthias Alfen’s Norwalk house is a way-cool motorcycle, an orange Kawasaki Z Rex 1100. Upon closer inspection, there is a Volkswagen “VW” ornament on the gas tank. Turns out the two-wheeler is art as well as transport, the idea being (I think) to merge an exciting ride with a tame one, both getting you from here to there.
The bike is a gentle visual intro into the mind and work of Alfen, whose often-massive creations are stunning and dramatic in variety and scope. As a youth growing up in Germany, it was practically preordained that Alfen would become an artist. His grandfather was a painter and photographer, and both parents were photographers.
Matthias Alfen stands with works in progress in his studio.
“My father taught me that art is always important,” said Alfen, 49, who came to the United States in 1994 via grant money from the (Jackson) Pollock-Krasner Foundation. “He always made a point of buying something, if he could, at the shows we would attend, to support art and artists.”
Matthias Alfen puts the finishing touches on a piece featuring the negative shapes all humans occupy.
Alfen’s ongoing “Body Mobile” series, which blurs the boundaries between sculptor and sculpture, has garnered a lot of attention. Oversized white plaster arms, legs and heads, which appear extremely heavy but are not, are ‘worn’ by Alfen in places like New York’s Times Square, causing massive crowds to gather, touch and take pictures.
“Most sculptures just sit in museums or galleries,” he explained. “They don’t walk down the street. I wanted to created a mobile art show.”
Alfen’s house in Norwalk is an art gallery in itself, with sculptures, paintings and other pieces all around. He works in a large barn-like studio behind the house. While he has had success and recognition, he said his life as an artist is always evolving, always challenging and sometimes frustrating.
“People think artists just create things all of a sudden,” he said. “But the reality is that you undertake hundreds and hundreds of projects before something works out. I’m often asked if this or that artist is talented or not. Sometimes it’s the time and effort that matter. Things go wrong, things break. But these incidents are times to find something new. It is in the process of trying to create that you find something. That’s life as an artist.”
Giving back is also part of Alfen’s life as an artist. He has taught art at New Canaan’s Silvermine Arts Center, and works with children to create art in local classrooms. His generosity of time, talent and spirit was informed by an incident with his uncle, Fritz Koenig, a sculptor best known outside Germany for the “Sphere,” which once stood in the plaza between the two World Trade Center towers, and is now in Battery Park, its damage deliberately left unrepaired, as a memorial to the 9/11 victims.
“I once asked him for some help, some guidance, when I was about 21 or 22,” recalled Alfen. “He said, ‘You’re a nothing, and I’m a famous artist. You’ve left no traces (of admired work).’ Within a month I had my first major project, and the German government bought a piece of my work. It was karma. I decided then that although artists have to be tough to survive, we must have solidarity, rather than picking at each other.”
A few years ago Alfen had a major “showing” of sorts in New Canaan. The owner of the Alice Ball House, at 523 Oenoke Ridge, decided to sell. It was designed in 1953 by legendary American architect Philip Johnson.
“They had the idea to ‘stage’ the house, to enhance its appeal with works of art. An interior decorator I knew asked me to participate.”
Alfen contributed a front-lawn sculpture that became as well known as the house for the eight months it was showcased. It was of a double-faced woman. “If you drove past one way, she was reclining,” said Alfen. “If you drove past the other way, she was rising.” The house didn’t sell, and is still on the market today, but Alfen’s sculpture inspired him to do many more that force viewers to think.
Many of his creations, human heads and bodies, are hollowed out here and there, presenting an almost mystical three-dimensional appearance. The concept is one of using negative space in different ways to express opinions on humanity.
“I’ve always been interested in realism,” he said. “How do you capture something you want to express? The negative shape we occupy challenges me. My figures are on one side balancing, and from the other they’re falling down. One sculpture showing two things. It’s never been done before. It’s time duality.”
The concept landed him a solo exhibit at the Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport.
Wrote art critic and professor of art history Donald Kuspit in the show brochure, ‘Alfen suggests that human beings can never be held to one identity. They are in perpetual identity crisis. Alfen has outdone himself, both expressively and formally.’
When he’s not creating art, Alfen spends time working on live humans, as a licensed physical therapist. His specialty is helping injured people avoid surgery. “The knowledge of the body I’ve gained from my art, and studying anatomy, helped me understand the body as a kind of functioning architecture.”
With bills to pay just like everyone else, and expensive art supplies to buy, unlike everyone else, Alfen hopes to break through to the next level, which is having his work marketed by others.
“Artists who are really successful commercially are the ones who get people to rally behind their ideas,” he said. “They could sell soap. Today’s major artists are marketing directors. I’m still a person who physically makes the art.”
Alfen acknowledged that how his art is judged will ultimately be decided by others. “After 50 or 100 years, it will be decided whether people are still interested in my work. Time is the great equalizer.”
Matthias Alfen’s work can be viewed at flickr.com, and there are a variety of his “Body Mobile” videos at Youtube.com. He will be hosting an open-to-the-public book signing for “Heroism and Gender in War Films,” for which he contributed the front and back cover art, at his studio on Sept. 14, from 3-8, during which people can see his artwork. He will also host an artist showcase event where his work and that of two other artists will be shown, Oct. 19 from 3-8. The address is 35 Stonybrook Road, Norwalk.
More info: matthiasalfen@yahoo.com
Matthias Alfen’s sculpture graced the front lawn of the Alice Ball House in New Canaan, when the house was put up for sale a few years ago.