16Die Hoffnung

Jörg Steinert was born in 1960 on the island of Rügen. Repelled by the ideology of the GDR, he worked in a quarry, with sculptors and bronze casters to approach sculpture from the perspective of its craft. Steinert worked as a free-lance sculptor in Berlin starting in 1986, and from 1995 onward in Schönermark near Angermünde, where he established an atelier for working in stone and bronze casting. Alongside his sculpture, Steinert practices painting. His work can be seen on public display, and in solo and group exhibitions. He lives and works in Berlin and Angermünde.

This life-sized bronze sculpture is mounted on a spherical base of stone and bronze. It depicts a standing human figure. The head is turned to the right, the arms are wrapped around a vine. The surface of this tendril has been worked smooth, as opposed to the rest of the sculpture. To the left and right of the figure, two extremities rise up from the ground, placed on either side of the figure.

The round mount is striking and can be seen as a seed. The arms rising from the ground can be seen as a reference to human agriculture; from this activity arises hope, and the human clings to it. The location of the sculpture means that this can also be understood as the knowledge that grows from research institutions. In this interpretation, research produces seeds that lead to knowledge, from which hope can be derived.

The sculpture was acquired through funds from the Action Group Berlin of the German World Hunger Aid.