On the language of stones

‘Stones are silent teachers’, wrote Goethe - and sought a deeper meaning in their speechlessness. The exhibition On the Language of Stones at Villa Bengel takes up this idea and shows how art can lend voice, expression and poetry to stone.

The starting point is the acquisition of 15 works by the gemstone artist Bernd Munsteiner (1943-2024) from the private estate of a collector. Munsteiner, who is regarded as a radical innovator in gemstone processing, is presented alongside works by his son Tom (1969-2023) and grandson Philipp (born 2004). Together, they form three generations that have further developed the Munsteiner studio, each with their own signature style.

The works are in close dialogue with works by the Lorenz family of artists from Idar-Oberstein: Werner Lorenz (1922-1990s) expanded classical engraving to include abstract forms, while his son Dieter Lorenz (1944-2020) achieved international recognition with small-format sculptures.
The sculptor couple Wolfgang Kubach (1936-2007) and Annemarie Kubach-Wilmsen (1937-2021) opened a poetic chapter in stone art with their legendary ‘stone books’ - a monumental ‘book tower’ will be on permanent loan in the garden of Villa Bengel.

The sculptures of Livia Kubach (born 1966) and Michael Kropp (born 1960) combine stone with light, sound, air - and music. Jewellery artist Vitalis Kubach (born 1968) is also represented with a graduation work.
Graduates of the Idar-Oberstein Campus Gemstone and Jewellery of Trier University of Applied Sciences are rethinking stone as a material and provide fresh impetus. Milena Naef shows a particularly close-to-the-body approach in her photographic works, in which stone and skin materially interpenetrate.
 

On the Language of Stones is part of the exhibition series Idar-Oberstein adorned, and was made possible with the support of the city of Idar-Oberstein, Trier University of Applied Sciences, the Rhineland-Palatinate Cultural Foundation, Atelier Munsteiner, and numerous sponsors.