This is the sculpture that you see when entering the first gallery of the Thomas Schütte exhibit. It is a monumental bronze sculpture that is twice the size of a normal person. This sculpture is about how nation states have used monumental figurative sculpture to convey authority, stability, glory and heroism, thus giving status to ruling parties. In "Vater Staat," Schutte critiques both authoritarian state power and the role that art has played in reinforcing it. This towering demagogue is severe, but also vulnerably frail - he is bound by his garments in a way that suggests that he may have no body at all. I was stunned when I entered this room and stood looking at this.
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