Peter Ripka

We know the Artist: 

Born in Mülheim an der Ruhr in 1954, he lives and works in Düsseldorf, NRW.

Trained as a typographer, he worked for years in graphic arts and advertising agencies. Since 1994 he is a freelance graphic designer.

Over the years she has participated with his works in many exhibitions and symposia.

The thrust of his artistic work arises from the need for graphic expression and representation. He is particularly interested in the human figure: which is both passion and challenge for him. The gestures, the situations, the faces and the moments motivate him and push him to try to capture them, sometimes quickly and spontaneously, other times attentive to details.

In addition to pencil and watercolor, wood and clay are his materials of choice, as they are well suited to sketches, portraits or reproductions of observations of daily life.

Realization for the Symposium of Predaia 2020:

The sculpture created by Peter has the title “The sweeper” (orig. “Der Feger”).

The work is inspired by a German saying “everyone should help clean up”

Man proclaims himself “creator” but leaves unmistakable traces on our planet.

Not always for the sake of him and, probably, of Mother Nature.

On the contrary: he cuts the branch on which he sits.

With the metaphor of the scavenger I want to put pressure on everyone to be directed to take on concrete responsibilities, in the sense of thinking and acting to preserve nature. As responsible people who take on the tasks that lie ahead.

The person represented in this sculpture holds both legs on the Earth; the meaning is very ambiguous: on the one hand it represents the importance of starting with oneself, on the other hand this support is a ball that is never sufficiently safe and requires a molded sense of balance.