This volume presents outdoor sculptures, both those recently produced for the new arrangement of the Cologne Sculpture Park and works that already exist, on numerous colour plates.

It grapples with the decline of outdoor sculpture and the debate on its current forms, as well as the aspects of modern society and environment that are reflected in the subject range of these works.

Reaktor by Dirk Skreber, Herbert-Bayer-Zigarettenkiosk / Atomskulptur by Michael Sailstorfer and Disappearing Forest of Germany by Alan Sonfist all deal with the burning issues of our times. The focus is on the current discussion about the financial and economic crisis, the dominance of technology, the shift in global power, climate change and over-population, but also ‘celebrity culture’, success and fame. In this way, KölnSkulptur 5 affords a representative view of the positions taken by contemporary outdoor sculpture and makes the vitality of this genre clear for all to see.

Published alongside an exhibition at Galerie der Stadt Remscheid, Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg and Sprüth Magers Galerie, Berlin / London in 2009 / 2010.

English and German text.