Art Promotion And New Media : Germany

Today very few painters and sculptors can live solely on the proceeds from the sale of their works. They receive government aid, grants, and assistance from private companies with a keen appreciation for the arts. The Kunstfonds e.V. founded in 1980 helps recognized artists finance ambitious projects. Oases of artistic activity are the artists’ colony in Worpswede near Bremen as well as the Villa Massimo and the Villa Romana in Italy. Here scholarship holders can work without disturbance and free from financial worry. Business and industry encourage artistic activity as well. For more than 40years, for instance, the cultural section of the Federation of German Industries has been awarding prizes to painters and sculptors.

The new media of video, computers and telecommunications are being used for artistic purposes as well. The Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, which opened in 1992, the Institute for New Media of the Sta’del Art Institute in Frankfurt am Main, and the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne perceive the electronic media as forms of expression which complement traditional forms of painting and sculpture. Video art and interaction between the computer and the observer are the focus of this young art scene today.