Red high heels for the pink castle - Interview with Pop Art artist Heiner Meyer

Red high heels for the pink castle – Interview with pop artist Heiner Meyer

29 January 2021

The study of the shoe in the LUDWIGGALERIE Oberhausen Castle takes place on the occasion of the installation of the steel sculpture RED HEELS by the internationally renowned German pop artist Heiner Meyer. The sculpture will be ceremoniously unveiled on March 20, 2021 and will be located centrally in front of the palace façade on Konrad-Adenauer-Allee. It will thus be an impressive eye-catcher in the future.
Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing interviews and reports from the creation to the unveiling of the sculpture on our social media channels. We are starting our RED HEELS-Countdown with an interview with Heiner Meyer, who spoke with our press and public relations employee, Dagmar Winkler.

Heiner Meyer in his studio, 2020 © Matthias Schrumpf

DW: How did the idea for RED HEELS developed?

HM: The director of your museum, Dr. Christine Vogt, approached me with the request to create a sculpture for the foundation slab in front of the palace, which had long been vacant. A sculpture by Keith Haring had previously stood on this slab. I agreed immediately and very happily - among other reasons because sculptures play an important role in my work; they play an equal role to painting, so to speak. In the exhibition ART ABOUT SHOES - from beaked shoes to sneakers & Heiner Meyer - German Pop Art in stiletto format, which is on display until May 24th, several of my sculptures, such as Great Minnie, Big Dagobert and Formula I, can be seen.

Great Dagobert by Heiner Meyer, exhibition view, 2021 © LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen

After some thought, I noticed that I was interested in making something that resembled a silhouette and had a dynamic quality. The shoe, a classic motif in art history and therefore also in Pop Art, seemed to me to be the right motif. So now seven shoes, arranged in a pyramid and appearing to dance - each one has its own shape - spiral vertically upwards.

Heiner Meyer, Stiletto study, 2020 © Heiner Meyer

DW: What significance did the location (urban gateway, in front of the palace, Kaisergarten) have for your considerations?

HM: The location played a major role in my considerations. You drive into Oberhausen by car or public transport from Sterkrade or the A42 and on your right you immediately see the LUDWIGGALERIE. This is where the sculpture should attract the attention of passing viewers and I hope that its presence functions as much as possible like a landmark. Its size, around 6 meters high and 3 x 3 meters wide, also plays a role.

Oberhausen Castle seen from Konrad-Adenauer-Allee, 2021 © LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen

Schloss Oberhausen with “Red Heels”, 2021, photomontage: LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen (©)

DW: What role does the shoe play in your work?

HM: It was only through the exhibition that I noticed how strong the presence of shoes in my works. I hadn't realized before how often shoes are the main or supporting characters. A total of 55 works with this motif can be seen in the rooms on the ground floor. They cover a wide range of subjects, such as the still life from 2010 with the lady's slipper orchid or the aforementioned sculptures Great Minnie and Great Dagobert, where my attention is focused on his gaiters, among other things.

"Lady's Slipper" painting with Great Dagobert by Heiner Meyer, exhibition view, 2021 © LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen

DW: Why is the sculpture made of red high heels?

HM: On the one hand, red, along with black, stands for the special shoe, the high heel. Red is a signal color, stands for passion and love, and makes the shoe an eye-catcher. In addition, the pink color of the facade had a major influence on the color of the sculpture. The LUDWIGGALERIE is also known as "The Pink Castle." It was therefore very important to me that a harmonious overall picture was created.

DW: You worked with a structural engineer. Did the structural analysis influence the final form of the sculpture?

HM: Since the installation site is outside and aspects such as wind loads, to name just one, have to be taken into account, we brought in the Diekmann engineering office, a renowned structural engineering office in Oberhausen. Mr. Diekmann was able to leave my design unchanged. So there are no deviations from the design in terms of appearance. Only a few statically important connections were optimized and adjusted, but this does not affect the appearance. As I know, your next blog article will be a report by Mr. Diekmann on the static calculations. Your readers should be looking forward to this, because I too have followed the exciting static considerations with interest. I find it remarkable how many companies and people have contributed to this great project and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for that.

DW: The way and when light hits a sculpture plays a key role in its effect. This depends not only on the location, but also on the nature of the material and its surface treatment. What considerations apply to RED HEELS in this regard?

HM: What is special is of course that the sculpture has a completely different effect during the day and in the evening when it is lit up. This is intended to bring visitors back to this special place again and again. We are using smooth sheet steel and we are planning to paint it with a satin finish. This gives it a high level of brilliance, but is not directly reflective. I can only recommend that everyone visit the place several times to be enchanted by the colours and play of light.

DW: Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Meyer! Thank you very much for the interview.