The Idea of Human Walls

Joachim Berthold describes his development as a sculptor, beginning with his Human Wall of 1960 as the starting point, leading up to his key work, the 1968 Wall. All of the artist’s works in subsequent years have been based on human figures liberating themselves from restraint within a wall or other object into the freedom of three-dimensionality, changing from negative to positive and finding counterparts in their own shadows. The artist explains the spiritual basis of his works: for him a work of art is the highest consummation in the life of man because it is the human manifestation of the transcendental.