DTina Herchenröther’s world is made up of many superheroes. Sometimes they seem to be born from a pure fantasy world and look like modern sphinxes on a pedestal, sometimes they are reminiscent of specific models in space series, fantasy novels or comics. To “Never Ending Story” or “Harry Potter”. This young woman uses strong colors and sometimes rubs them with her fingers when the brush does not seem to provide her with the right application, the correct tone. The works in her collection are packed in two grey A3 cardboard boxes with her name affixed to them and carefully archived, just like all the works of the artists in Goldstein’s studio.
This is a kind of respect for the artist, you can feel it in every little action. Early works on paper in smaller formats have long become larger works. Many pictures show concrete self-portraits in different shapes. The 23-year-old Tina Herchenröther also performed in the Frankfurt Theater and performed well in various roles. In Atelier Goldstein, she shows herself, photos, and draws from photos. Tina Herchenröther is one of 14 cognitively impaired women and men whose only Atelier Goldstein is allowed to be an artist.
On this day, she used a pencil to transfer the etchings to a small copper plate. The transmission is the wrong word. In the photo, she is completely a clown. The painting on the copperplate only focuses on the face and abstraction, revealing thick and chubby cheeks. Sophia Edschmid, the head of the studio, said: “She is open, curious, imaginative, completely fearless about materials, and tried a lot.” But not everyone who likes painting is accepted. , The threshold is high, as is the case in other art schools. Christiane Cuticchio, the founder and director of Atelier, found most of the artists many years ago while holding workshops for the disabled and dormitories and looking for particularly talented artists.
Decisions against pensions
Tina Herchenröthers took a different path. At the age of six, she visited the Lebenshilfe institution Goldstein Atelier with her parents who were interested in art. After school, they decided to increase the artistic interest of their daughter with Down syndrome. The decision of the arts is a decision against retirement. Because most people with cognitive disabilities work in studios for people with intellectual disabilities. In Frankfurt, these studios are usually Plauenheim studios. In this way, they independently obtained the right to receive pensions, instead of relying on basic security in old age.
Edschmid said that Tina Herchenröther’s parents hope that their daughter can use her talents. So after school, she came to the vocational training area of the studio. Its structure was similar to that in the workshop, so it was officially recognized. After the internship where Tina Herchenröther had to prove her talents again, graphics, painting and culture were all in the training program. Only three artists follow this path and work in the studio four days a week. This personal training is funded by employment agencies and the studio is run by Lebenshilfe. In Frankfurt and surrounding areas, Atelier Goldstein is the only company offering such services. In the three-year training course, participants can decide whether they really want to live the life of an artist.
“The whole world is open to her,” Ed Schmid predicted. In the four years in the studio, Tina Herchenröther has formed her own style and found themes influenced by popular culture. Her first solo exhibition planned to be held in Graz last year was cancelled due to the corona pandemic. She is currently carrying out her first commissioned work for the Lebenshilfe Regional Association. Her painting is almost six square meters and will decorate the entrance hall of a new social affairs school.
According to Edschmid, the artists did not experience any control over their work: “Everyone just found something burning,” she said. Like the achievements of some studio artists, holding exhibitions and gaining fame are not the motivation for her work. No one here practices “folk high school art or occupational therapy”, no matter how reasonable they are. “They are all very talented people and belong to the artistic elite.” Therefore, it is important to give them room for development.
The theme of the work commissioned by Tina Herchenröther is “superhero”, in a sense, all artists of Atelier Goldstein. And the role model of the new generation of self-image, no one will ask you what disability you have, but what you can achieve as an artist.
