Peter Lenk (born 6 June 1947, in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

) is a German sculptor based in

Bodman-Ludwigshafen Bodman-Ludwigshafen is a municipality in the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, located on the most western shore of Lake Überlingen, the north-western part of the Upper Lake of Lake Constance (). The municipality consist ...

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, known for the controversial sexual content of his public art.

Art

Lenk's artworks include: *''

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

'', a ten-meter-tall rotating statue in the harbor of

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

, (Germany), depicting a fictional courtesan from a short story by Balzac. Although it was highly controversial when installed in 1993, today it is "the most photographed attraction in the city".. A detail from the sculpture, a nude figure of

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...

, was displayed in the Konstanz train station in 2010, but was removed after complaints from the

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and CDU politicians. *'' Ludwigs Erbe'', a relief sculpture in the town square of

that shows various German politicians engaged in sexual play. *A sculpture on the exterior of the office building in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

that houses ''

die Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, "The Daily Newspaper"), stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a German daily newspaper. It is run as a cooperative – it is administered by its employees and a co-operative of sharehol ...

'', depicting the editor of a competing newspaper sporting an enormous penis. *A sculpture of

Volker Kauder Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...

wearing only a skirt made of bananas, like one worn by

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

, for a benefit auction. *A statue of German writer

Martin Walser Martin Johannes Walser (; 24 March 1927 – 26 July 2023) was a German writer, known especially as a novelist. He began his career as journalist for ''Süddeutscher Rundfunk'', where he wrote and directed audio plays. He was a member of Group 47 ...

wearing ice skates while he rides a horse that stands on the tails of two giant reclining mermaids in a fountain, at the boat landing in

Überlingen Überlingen (; ) is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the German-Swiss border, border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second-largest city in the Bodenseek ...

. *''Hölderlin im Kreisverkehr'', a monument to German poet

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a Germans, German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticis ...

installed in 2003 in a traffic roundabout in

Lauffen am Neckar Lauffen am Neckar (, ) or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its q ...

Books

Lenk is the author or co-author of: *''Skulpturen: Bilder, Briefe, Kommentare'' (Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2005, ). *''Magische Säule Meersburg: Skulpturen'' (with Helmut Weidhase, Konstanz: Stadler Verlagsges. Mbh, 2007, ).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenk, Peter Living people German sculptors German male sculptors Artists from Bavaria 1947 births People from Konstanz (district) State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart alumni