Michael Jastram
The sculptor Michael Jastram (born 1953) has been an established name in German contemporary art for around 40 years. He has developed a very individual artistic form concept that always places the human figure at the centre of his work. Jastram places his figures in surreal constructs made of various, often recurring elements. He deliberately keeps the surfaces of his works rough with clearly recognisable traces of treatment. Jastram's sculptures are highly aesthetic objects, providing projection surfaces for existential and philosophical questions.
Michael Jastram studied at the Berlin-Weißensee Academy of Art and received his diploma as a sculptor in 1984. Since then, he has been working as a freelance artist and lecturer and shows his works in national and international galleries and museums. Many of his works can be found in public spaces and numerous collections. In 2010, the German Bundestag acquired Jastram's bronze sculpture "Europe and the Bull", which today stands on the presidency level in the Reichstag building in Berlin, as does the "Centaur". His bronze sculpture "Gateway to Europe" can be seen in the liaison office of the German Bundestag in Brussels.
