From the April 2009 issue of UConn e-Momentum
The University of Connecticut Libraries has unveiled the gift of a sculpture entitled "Endangered Species" by internationally known sculptor, printmaker and painter Werner Pfeiffer.
The sculpture, which is appraised at $300,000, measures 7 by 24 feet and is made from books that have been sealed shut, mutilated and placed on shelves lined with pages from the dictionary. It is a compelling statement about the power of the written word and censorship. The work was created in the 1980s and exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.
A native of Stuttgart, Germany, Pfeiffer attended the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste (State Academy of Fine Arts and Design), where he trained as a fine artist specializing in book arts. He immigrated to New York in 1961, and worked as a freelance commercial designer and art director, amassing numerous citations and awards for his work. Pfeiffer began his long career at the prestigious Pratt Institute in 1961, and was appointed professor and director of the Adlib Press at Pratt in 1969, a position he held until his retirement in 2003.
His books, collages, drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures have been shown internationally in more than 100 group exhibitions and more than 60 solo shows in countries such as Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Israel, Sweden and Switzerland. At the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, his work was exhibited along with that of his wife, Lise Poirier, who is a collagist. In Connecticut, his work also may be seen at the UConn School of Law, the criminal court building in Waterbury, and the offices of the Hartford Courant.
Pfeiffer appeared at UConn on October 23, 2008 for the installation of the sculpture in the Bookworms Cafe, a popular library location for socializing and studying. The decision to donate the sculpture to UConn, he explained, was in recognition of the 30 years he has spent living in the Cornwall, Conn. area; because he has friends among UConn’s art faculty, particularly emeritus professor Roger Crossgrove; and because he felt it to be appropriate for a public university.
Brinley Franklin, vice provost of the libraries, says, “Werner Pfeiffer’s sculpture provides an intellectual statement about censorship and electronic media threatening a centuries old technology, the book. At a university where the library serves as a place for faculty and students to explore the world of ideas, knowledge and information, an artistic expression like ‘Endangered Species’ stimulates thought and discussion and makes Bookworms Cafe more than just a popular place on campus to get a cup of coffee.
“We are indeed fortunate that a sculptor of Werner Pfeiffer’s renown has chosen the Homer Babbidge Library as the permanent home for this important piece of art.”
