Michael Behrens (sculptor)


Michael Behrens is a German sculptor working with glass. He works internationally, mainly in Europe and North America.

Early life and education

Michael Behrens was born in 1973 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
From 1999 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Netherlands, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2003. During this time, he enjoyed photography and painting, before discovering his love for sculpture.

Career

Behrens began experimenting with sculpture in 2002. Behrens's sculptural work initially focused primarily on the internal structure of the objects. His Seaforms series focuses more on the form of the outer shape. With Phoenix, Behrens devoted himself to the abstracted form of the object. The relationship between shape and content is of high importance in Behrens's work.
In 2004 and 2007, Behrens worked as a project supervisor for Ethiopian Reflections in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
In 2006, he established his own studio in Dusseldorf, and two years later, after his first solo exhibition in Paris, France, he was invited to exhibit his work at the Ernsting Foundation.
In 2008 and 2009, he was assigned as a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture – Plastic Shaping at the Technical University Darmstadt.
Behrens has participated in international art fairs such as the Art Palm Beach, Form Miami, SOFA Chicago, Pan Amsterdam, Art Breda, Art Vienna, Art & Antique Hofburg and Art Münster. His work is part of public collections including the Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf, the Ernsting Stiftung in Coesfeld, Germany, the Imagine Museum in Saint Petersburg, the Novotný Museum in Nový Bor, the MusVerre in Sars-Poteries and the Seven Bridges Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut/US.

Works

Phoenix
In Phoenix the sculpture is reduced to a minimal form and then extra care is provided for whereby its plasticity comes to the fore. Behrens produces contrasting works made of crystal by deliberate abandonment of color in the classical sense and the interplay of convex and concave surfaces in black and gold.
Seaforms
The Seaforms series embodies decades of Behrens's personal sensory experiences above and below water. The diverse color range and interior movement varies as if created organically by the environment while each shape and structure provide a strong appearance. The natural and random appearance of the artist's works is created by the exterior form and the specific details: The fine modeling of the subareas and edges, the interplay of matt and polished surfaces as well as the cell-like structures emerging from fusing of the glass sections.
Landscapes
In addition to glass objects, Behrens furthermore creates two-dimensional works abstracting photo material from satellite images and maps.

Technique

Behrens produces all his artworks at his studio in Düsseldorf where he his a custom-built furnaces. Each piece undergoes several complex production phases: The sculptural work on a rigid foam model, the production of the melting molds, the arrangement of pre-processed glass pieces in the melting mold, the actual melting and cooling processes as well as the finish by grinding, polishing and/or sandblasting. The production of a single sculpture usually takes several months.

Awards

  • Fort Wayne Museum Award, 42nd Annual International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, with Habatat Galleries Michigan, US, 2014
  • Frederik Meijer Award 41st Annual International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition", with Habatat Galleries Michigan, US, 2013
  • Collector's Choice 40th Annual International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, with Habatat Galleries Michigan, US, 2012
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Award, 39th Annual International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, with Habatat Galleries Michigan, US, 2011
  • 1st Prize, Arts and Crafts state award North Rhine-Westphalia, Kevelaer, Germany, 2009
  • 3rd Immenhäuser Glass Award, Germany, 2009
  • Jutta Cuny-Franz Memorial Award Selected Entries, Germany, 2009
  • 1st Prize Glass Art Prize Glasveredler 2008 Glasstec, Germany, 2008
  • Innovation Glass Art Prize Weru, Germany, 2007

Selected exhibitions