Meerkat Sculpture by Ottmar Hörl - Meerkat

Artist: Ottmar Hörl

Available in various colors.

Available in a signed version limited to 250 copies per color.

In 2009, 1,000 meerkats went on an excursion to the Hohenkarpfen estate region in the Swabian Jura. Far from their natural habitat in Southern Africa, they symbolized globalization and the increasing accessibility of every corner of the earth.

The Hohenkarpfen estate will be the destination of a very special "Work Outing". On Sunday, September 13, at 11 a.m., internationally renowned sculptor and performance artist Ottmar Hörl will open an open-air exhibition there. By then, he will have installed 1,000 roughly life-sized meerkats in the meadows surrounding the hotel and art foundation. Why meerkats, then? The adorable little companions inspire positive feelings in anyone who observes them. Perhaps this is because, in some ways, their behavior resembles that of human beings. They whistle tirelessly, disappear into their underground caves, suddenly reappear in a different spot, dig, play, sunbathe, employ babysitters, or teach their young how to hunt. One member of the clan is always on the lookout, acting as a sentry and keeping an eye on the surroundings. It is precisely this characteristic upright sentry posture that Ottmar Hörl has chosen for his meerkats, thereby adding a new quality to the many public artistic events he has organized so far. Cheerful and somewhat bizarre at the same time, the meerkats, which normally live in the arid savannas and deserts of Southern Africa, bring a sunny yellow hue to the early autumn landscape around the Hohenkarpfen mountain. Hörl’s plastic sculptures could also allude to the fact that the world has become a global village. After all, the nearby town of Trossingen is twinned with Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Art makes such associations possible. This time, a majestic delegation of meerkats is taking a "work outing" rather than official representatives.

The design

Ottmar Hörl, a multidisciplinary German artist, is internationally recognized for his avant-garde style and his boldness in undertaking colossal projects. Whether through sculptures, series of sculptural installations, photographs, or conceptual objects, his goal is to offer a type of art accessible to everyone, notably by democratizing sculpture through exhibiting gigantic and radical projects in public spaces. Today, it is his garden gnome Ben, presented in Cologne for the first time in 2005, that contributes to his great fame: his installations are regularly exhibited in European capitals. Passionate about the democratization of art, he uses simple materials like PVC. Highly involved in the world of Fine Arts, he was one of the founding members of the Nuremberg Academy in 1999, of which he became president in 2005. He has been rewarded with numerous prizes granted for his great creativity and his radical, offensive vision for promoting the democratization of sculpture. He is also a founding member of the Fomalhaut group in 1985: a design, art, and architecture studio where he contributed to the design of impressive pieces in collaboration with architects, such as Living Room: a contemporary residence in the medieval center of Gelnhausen in Germany.