Mercurius
Divine Messenger of the German Postal Service
Markus Lüpertz stands fearlessly on a narrow wooden board, approximately 10 metres above floor level, and strikes a gigantic sculpted figure with a hammer. In the meantime, an assistant sends up a fresh bucket of plaster. Lüpertz flings it onto the sculpture and immediately forms it into an arm. “You always have to destroy, again and again, until it's right. The figure must not be too crude.† Markus Lüpertz, one of Germany's most renowned artists, now faces a large, even gargantuan project. For the German Postal Service in Bonn, he is assembling a sculpture representing the messenger god Mercury. Up to 15 metres in height, the striking figure will stand on a globe in front of the Deutsche Post headquarters in Bonn. “I’m making the figure just as I please, even though it's a commission. As an artist, there's just no other way to work. I have all the freedom I need.† For months already, Lüpertz has been working in his Berlin studio on this literally enormous commission. It took him weeks simply to get the rotation of the body to come out just right. Hermes is the ideal figure for the Deutsche Post. He is the tutelary god of travelers, of commerce, of wanderers, of merchants and of shepherds. But he is also the god of thieves, of eloquence, of gymnastics, and of magic. Among the Greeks, Hermes was generally depicted with a winged helmet, with winged sandals, or sprouting wings from his shoulders. His symbol is the caduceus, a staff with a pair of intertwined snakes. In this connection, safe to say, the divinity’s sponsorship of thievery is bound to be downplayed. The sculpture is to be dedicated in 2007. That is to say, if all goes well, for he demands a prodigious amount of work. First, the figure must be constructed out of plaster. Then it must be cast, and finally painted. In summertime, hopefully, an enormous truck will transport the messenger of the gods to his final destination in Bonn.
