Judith Hopf
Regen #3, Vinegar tree branch similar to the cherry tree branch #5

Artist
Judith Hopf

Title
Rain #3, Vinegar Tree Branch Resembling the Cherry Tree Branch #5

Year of creation
2023

Technique and dimensions
emulsion paint, bronze sculpture

Year of acquisition
2023

Acquisition of the FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie and Peppermint.

Sometimes short, sometimes longer blue lines run diagonally on the walls on the ground floor and in the stairwell of the east wing of the Hamburger Bahnhof. The painted lines in varying widths represent rain. Near them, bare branches protrude from the white walls in unexpected places in the passageways between the cloakroom and the exhibitions. The artist Judith Hopf is concerned with the energies and resistances of nature that lie beyond human influence. The rigid lines of her murals Rain #1 and #2 illustrate, in a formally simplified manner, the forces of weather events in the atmosphere. The works grow organically into the angular museum rooms. The fact that the branches are not made of wood, but of bronze only becomes clear when you look closely. With these sculptures, Hopf refers to vinegar trees that she found on a building site in Berlin. The vinegar tree is similar in shape to the cherry tree, but as a wild-growing and unusable plant it is the opposite. Hopf plays with these similarities and addresses how strength and meaning can be gained from differences and changes in environment.