Dresden artist Christian Manss, who has been involved in the Coventry/Dresden Arts Exchange since 2013, showed a different side of himself in April 2023 as an author. He took part in the new Coventry Dresden Writers Exchange reading from his plays to students at Coventry University, the German Circle and Fire and Dust Cafe Morso.
He also exhibited a series of lithographs at Common Ground in Fargo Village while he was in Coventry.
Also in 2023 during the Palias Sommer festival in Dresden on International Friendship Day George Wagstaff the Coventry sculptor was a recipient of the Fama Award for Lifetime Achievement along with Dresden Sculptor Helmut Heinze. Both artists exhibited their work on the festival grounds at Neumarkt in front of the Frauenkirke. The award is sponsored by the Mayor of Dresden, the Fauenkirche Foundation, the New Saxon Art Association and the KFA Culture for alla gGmbH.
The award itself is a bronze sculpture based on the Golden Fama, Goddess of Fame on the “lemon squeezer” dome of the Dresden Academy for the Fine Arts. George’s sculpture ‘Redemption’ has been gifted to the Frauenkirche for permenant exhibition.
Helmut Heinze is an ex-professor of sculpture at the Dresden Academy 1979–97. Helmut is the sculptor of Choir of Survivors in Coventry Cathedral Ruins. It was unveiled by the Bishop of Saxony in 2012. This was one of the 50th anniversary events which commemorated the work of the Peace and Reconciliation Ministry of Coventry Cathedral.
The award itself is a bronze sculpture based on the Golden Fama, Goddess of Fame on the ‘lemon squeezer’ dome of the Dresden Academy for the Fine Arts. George’s sculpture ‘Redemption’ has been gifted to the Frauenkirche for permanent exhibition.
CHRISTIAN MANSS
VIA
In 2021, Christian Manss collaborated with his American printer William Haberman in Sweden to produce a series of five lithographs(Edition of 50 each) without being in the same location. The artist in Dresden sent designs for each colour layer of the lithographs to the printer in Tidaholm, Sweden via the internet. Haberman sent test prints via the internet and mail for corrections back to Germany. This process took several months until the artist was satisfied with the test prints and the final prints could be made. The incentive for the project was the travel restrictions during the pandemic and how to conduct an artistic process that heavily relied on communication, colour values and teamwork. Thematically, the works also revolve around stagnation. Cars do not move, boats are in the woods and fountains have no water. The calm is only disturbed by geometric foreign bodies and restless lines.
Christian Manss is a German contemporary artist who was born in Eisenach in 1978. He studied in Leipzig, Germany, lived in Zurich until 2010 and then moved to Dresden, where he currently resides. Manss has received numerous grants and awards throughout his career, including travel scholarships that have taken him to countries such as Sweden, France, South Korea, Montenegro, Austria, and the United States. He has also been the recipient of various project and studio residencies, including a three-year studio residency at the Museum Ludwig-Galerie Schloss Oberhausen. Manss’ work encompasses a range of media, including painting, printing, photography and objects, and often explores the relationships between art, architecture, and public space. His art is characterised by a playful and inventive approach to materials, with a particular interest in human traces. Manss has exhibited his work extensively both nationally and internationally, including in countries such as South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, Sweden, UK, France, Poland, Mexico, Montenegro, and the USA.
Christian has exhibited with Coventry/Dresden Arts Exchange since 2013, this time he is visiting Coventry for the newly launched Coventry/Dresden Writers Exchange. While in Coventry he will be speaking to Coventry University students, meeting members of the German Circle as well as performing at Fire and Dust, Café Morso.
