Welge Krummgeschlossener
The Art Walk
Krummgeschlossener
„Cyriacus. Forced labor. Daily humiliation. Cruel arbitrary treatment of prisoners. In the mud pits of ancient Rome as in the torture cells of the present.“
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A Closer Look at the Work
The title refers to a historical torture method. Already August Bebel wrote in his biography in 1913 that his father had been a prison guard, and that prisoners were tortured by „tightening up,“ an image of existential illegality that shaped him in his struggle for the working class. Welge translated this image into a strict form that makes the exaggerated limbs visible as physical and psychological fractures. The survivor’s descriptions Jean Améry The artist was deeply moved by the torture he suffered. The sculpture thus serves to crystallize history and present, while also serving as a counterpoint to it. Das macht die Henker machtlos.
About the Artist
The Sculptor Friedhelm Welge (*1952) lives in Frankfurt am Main, has his studio in Bad Camberg and works realistically and expressively. From his central work PROJEKT 14 (14 sculptures on the topic of human rights), Ardi Goldman Three sculptures have been acquired. For over 40 years, the sculptor has been working artistically, and for the same period he has also been writing. In doing so, he follows the credo: „Writing is raging and raging in the quarry of language.“ For example, the poetry collection WORTSTEINE was published in 2025; it contains poems about all four sculptures that can be seen in the Union area. He prefers to work with marble, sandstone, diabase, limestone, and granite. But he also repeatedly uses wood, bronze, or develops object-like forms.
His sculptural and linguistic work interpenetrate each other. For Welge, sculpture is never just form but always also condensed narrative, historical echo, and existential inquiry. In the three works gathered here from PROJEKT 14, this connection is particularly evident – they combine individual destinies, spiritual attitudes, and spiritual dimensions with the overarching theme of human rights.
Photos: © Marie Ruck
Ardi Goldman Kunst-
und Kulturstiftung gGmbH
Uniongelände
Hanauer Landstraße 188, 60314 Frankfurt am Main