Stefan van Drake: Ex-German cop Klemens Topp shows we are primal artists--children at play

"Feel so Pretty" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Shy" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Compassion Required" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Tribal Leader" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Member of the Upper House" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Self-portrait II" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Sanctuary" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

"Self-portrait" by Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

I´d like to know what you think of Klem's weirdo faces or masks sculptured into wet concrete on his portion of wall along Calle Labertino, a whisper away from where I feed 10 feral cats daily near the top of the village.

I knew about these primal masks, fanciful faces, some sculpted with mosaics and atop them all, a Christian cross.

Until I met Klemens Topp, retired career German cop, I didn´t know the author of these wall works.

Klem and wife own a townhouse, a very old original Moorish residence, and live here during winters. They live in their newphew´s home in a small Hungarian village eight kilometers from the Serbian border during summers.

I thought Klem created these masks.

Klemens Topp Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011)

I always admired them, finding a sense of joy and amusement and then more than a hint of spiritiualism in the Christian symbols.

I saw him this morning thoroughly cleaning his Spanish neighbor´s property with a broom.

“Hey, Klem, what are you doing?" I asked.

“No, just helping…I have the time and the woman of the house is not doing very well,” he told me.

A few weeks ago, I asked Klem if the wall sculptures and Christian icon came from his mind and hands.

He smiled and nodded.

He´s not a sculptor or painter, although he´s obviously skilled.

Klem is a primal artist.

We are all primal artists, capable of such acts of playful and abstract creativity.

I define art as a state of mind.

Klem has no titles for these, so I thought I would invent them, since they have been talking to me for a couple years as I frequent the Labertino Colony.