Susanne Tunn facts for kids

Susanne Tunn (born in 1958) is a German artist who creates amazing sculptures. She is famous for her large stone artworks. But she also uses other natural materials like tin, wood, concrete, plants, and even dust! Whether her art is huge or tiny, it always makes a strong impression.

About Susanne Tunn

Susanne Tunn was born in Detmold, Germany, in 1958. She studied Art and Sociology at the University of Bielefeld. Today, she lives in Alfhausen, which is a town near Osnabrück.

In 1998, Susanne Tunn won a special award. It was the Prize of the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia. She won it for her art project called 166 beds – Peace and Noise. This project was a sculpture made of concrete and a sound art piece.

Since 1992, she has also been a teacher. She teaches stone sculpture at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria.

Her Artworks

Susanne Tunn's sculptures show her unique way of working. She focuses a lot on the material itself. She also pays close attention to where her art is placed. This means her sculptures are often made especially for a certain spot.

Famous Art Projects

Here are some of her important artworks that were made for specific places:

• 5 Tables: This is a series of sculptures created between 1989 and 2004. Each "table" is a sculpture made from stone and plants, located in a different country.
  • Table of Thinking is in Germany.
  • Table of the Desert is in Spain.
  • Table of the Sea is in Sweden.
  • The Mountain-Table is in Switzerland.
  • Table for two couples and a dog is in Romania.
• POL-Stein: This stone sculpture is in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. It was placed opposite a building designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry. Susanne Tunn wanted her sculpture to be a strong contrast to his building.
• Chapel at Johannes Wesling Hospital: From 2004 to 2008, Susanne Tunn designed and built the chapel at a hospital in Minden, Germany. This was the first hospital chapel in Germany completely created by a modern artist.

Susanne Tunn is very interested in creating art systems. These systems combine the material, the shape, and the location of her art.

She has also published books about many of her artworks. These books are very beautiful. One of them, Im Inneren des Baumes (1990), even won an award from the German Stiftung Buchkunst. These books are like an extra part of her sculptural work.

Projects and Permanent Artworks

• 2009–2011: The Key and A.D., two sculptures for a big art exhibition called COLOSSAL. This exhibition was about the 2000th anniversary of the Varus Battle in Kalkriese, Germany.
• 2004–2008: Chapel, the sculptural building of the chapel in the Johannes Wesling Hospital Minden, Germany.
• 2004: Table for two Couples and a Dog, in Freck/Avrig, Romania.
• 2004: ATEM – META, an art installation at the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus/Kulturgeschichtliches Museum in Osnabrück, Germany. It was placed on the roof of Villa Schlikker and in the Anette Röhr Gallery.
• 1999: The Mountain-Table, on Alvier, Switzerland.
• 1998: 166 Betten – Peace and Noise, a sculpture and sound art piece. It was made for an art award celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia in Hagen a.T.W., Germany.
• 1996: Pole stone, a sculpture placed outside the Energie-Forum-Innovation building by Frank Gehry in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
• 1995: Table of the Sea, in Skagerrak, Sweden.
• 1992: Table of the Desert, in Sierra de los Filabres, Spain.
• 1989: Beginning of the 5 Tables project with Table of Thinking, in Minden, Germany.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2006: Perlen aus Stein (Pearls of Stone), Lechner Museum Ingolstadt, Germany.
• 2005: Tisch für zwei Paare und einen Hund /Table for two Couples and a Dog, at the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, and in the park and old glass house of Brukenthal summer residence, Freck/Avrig, Romania.
• 2022: Kraft der Stille (Power of Silence), Lechner Museum Ingolstadt, Germany.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2010: Unsichtbare Schatten (Invisible shadows), Museum MARTa Herford, Germany.
• 2009: Place of Memory – Place of Vision, Museo di Roma in Trastevere and Galleria Ugo Ferranti, Rome, Italy.
• 2007: MARTa schweigt (MARTa is silent), Museum MARTa Herford, Germany.
• 2005: (my private) Heroes, Museum MARTa Herford, Germany.
• 2002: Aquaria. Über die außergewöhnliche Beziehung von Wasser und Mensch (Aquaria. About the extraordinary relationship between water and humans), Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum Linz, Austria, and Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany.

Selected Published Works

Susanne Tunn has published several books about her art:

• Susanne Tunn: Table for two Couples and a Dog, 2005.
• Susanne Tunn: ATEM – META, 2004.
• Susanne Tunn: "(Chapel) 2004-2008", 2008.
• Susanne Tunn: Das Kongo-Syndrom, 1999.
• Susanne Tunn: 166 Betten – Peace and Noise, 1998.
• Susanne Tunn: Tisch des Berges – The Mountain-Table, 2001.
• Susanne Tunn: Tisch des Meeres – Table of the Sea, 1996.
• Susanne Tunn: Tisch der Wüste – Mesa del Desierto – Table of the Desert, 1992.
• Susanne Tunn: Tisch des Denkens – Table of Thinking, 1991.
• Susanne Tunn: Im Inneren des Baumes, 1990. This book won an award from Stiftung Buchkunst, Germany.

Images for kids

• 

  Rotation, 2012

• 

  A.D., Zinnschüttung, 2009-2011

• 

  Kapelle Klinikum Minden, Innenraum, 2008

• 

  atem meta, Braunkohlebriketts, 2004, Installation on the roof of Villa Schlikker

• 

  Loh, Sculpture, 2000

• 

  Table of the Mountain, 1999

• 

  Pol-Stein, 1996