Adrian Sauer, the artist who can already say that he is Angela Merkel's stepson: "I wanted to gain notoriety just for my work"

• POLITICS Sitting on an Ikea sofa or on the shore of a lake: this is how Germany imagines former Chancellor Merkel

• ACCIDENT An 82-year-old driver pounces on Merkel's car

• ART Helga de Alvear, the free-spirited German who fell madly in love with an architect from Cordoba

Gallerist Helga de Alvear met him 15 years ago.

She didn't know who she was, but the pictures of her fascinated her.

In 2014 the

opened the doors for his first exhibition, entitled

(East Berlin, 1976), assures that his art is influenced by having been raised "in a country that no longer exists and by his passion for technology".

Born into a family of scientists from

his father is

, the renowned chemist who would one day become the husband of

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

From being a teenage photographer from a defunct nation,

he would become the stepson of the leader of one of the most important world powers on the European scene.

However, to date and after a resume written in exhibitions around the world,

has not wanted to be associated with the government of

.

Always discreet with his personal life, he claims to have suffered harassment from the yellow press.

He, who is more of grayish tones, has tried to stay away from the spotlight of journalists and close to his own.

His is a mathematical and digitized art, where geometric calculation takes on a special meaning that would be impossible to achieve with analog photography.

In 2020, he arrived at

after having decorated

Light and Dark Stars, a work by Adrian Sauer based on the social meaning of star shapesADRIÁN SAUER

QUESTION.-

You have exhibited with Helga de Alvear 2014, 2018 and 2020 at ARCO.

How did she meet her?

ANSWER.-

Helga discovered my work at the Klemms gallery in Berlin.

Later she asked me to exhibit at hers and gave me carte blanche for my presentations.

She is one of the most generous people I know.

Q.-

Your first exhibition at the Helga Gallery was

. What does it mean?

A.-

It is a self-reflective approach to digital color.

An algorithm calculated the average color value of the sky and converted it to a medium gray.

I then took the idealized color spectrum of the first image and created the second with inverse color and brightness values.

It reminds of the analog process of negative and positive, but my idea was to show that in digital photography it is infinitely variable.

The idea of ​​original and copy does not exist.

Q.-

What does your work

consist of ?

A.-

The pentagram is the symbol of many movements.

It appears on very different flags such as the USSR, the European Union or the United States.

Its meaning goes back to the hope of the birth of Jesus Christ.

As a mathematical form, it constructs the faces of the "small starry dodecahedron", which I present in nine photographs with shadows of different sizes and different approaches.

One of the paintings from 'Through my window', exhibited in Madrid by Helga de Alvear during 2014ADRIÁN SAUER

Q.-

More than once you have mentioned that being born in a divided Germany has forged your art.

A.-

I was 13 years old when the wall was demolished.

It was a very special moment.

He was old enough to understand the political consequences of that.

I could see how a new scenario was configured.

Very few people miss the ideology of the German Democratic Republic, but there is a certain sense of identity.

Q.-

He is the son of Joachim Sauer, the husband of Angela Merkel.

What is it like to be an artist in a family of scientists?

A.-

My mother supported me, but my father never hid his concern.

Everything changed when she met my teacher in a hotel in Italy.

Q.-

For years you never mentioned that you are Merkel's stepson.

What has changed?

A.-

It was a personal decision.

I wanted to gain notoriety for my work, not for my family relationships.

Now Angela Merkel is no longer the chancellor.

Q.-

Did you feel media pressure?

A.-

Yes. I have had reporters at the door of my house waiting for me to come out.

I live in Leipzig with my wife, who is a writer, and my children.

They wanted to photograph us or for details of Angela Merkel's private life. They weren't very interested in art.

But this was twelve years ago.

Q.-

How do you see the future of Europe?

A.-

I would like us Europeans to recover the spirit and confidence in democracy.

When the Iron Curtain went up, many people were inspired and then disappointed.

Some blame democracy for every mistake.

But that is what we need: More democracy!

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