Katharina Fritsch

She attracted international attention for the first time in the mid-1980s with life-size works such as a true-to-scale elephant along with replicas of everyday objects like a large display stand filled with statues of Madonna.

Gary Garrels wrote that “One of the remarkable features of Fritsch’s work is its ability both to capture the popular imagination by its immediate appeal and to be a focal point for the specialized discussions of the contemporary art world.

[5] Her most recognized works are Rattenkönig/Rat King (1993), a giant circle of black polyester rats, included in the Venice Biennale in 1999.

Other works include Mönch (Monk) (2003), a stoic, monochromatic male figure, made of solid polyester with a smooth, matte black surface; Figurengruppe / Group of Figures (2006–2008), an installation of nine elements; and Hahn/Cock (2010), a 14 ft (4.3m) cockerel in ultramarine blue to be shown on London's Trafalgar Square Fourth plinth from July 2013 to January 2015.

While many of her early works were handcrafted, Fritsch now makes only the models for her sculptures and then hands these over to a factory for production, to "near-pathological specifications".

After a dramatic, near death situation in which Frank was covered in too much plaster and turned blue, with his head “lolling forwards”[9] Fritsch has made fully body casts from mannequins.

Fritsch has staged a large number of solo shows and exhibitions at museums and galleries across the world.

[12] Fritsch has been represented by Matthew Marks Gallery in New York since 1994, and has exhibited with White Cube in London.