Alex Grein – Ephemeral: photographically “exposed“

Cell phone holders, blocks of ice, dissecting tables, frozen matter in a freezer, viscous matter in canisters, photographs in deformed frames, and butterflies on video screens. Although I haven’t seen them, the mere listing makes me more than curious about this exhibition. How can we connect all of these, such different works? A first idea is conveyed in the exhibition title „d a  u   e    r“ ...
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Stefan Heyne – The interaction of stage setting and photography

Cologne, 2 December 2020. What a privilege! Flanked by the stage director Tatjana Gürbaca and the production designer Stefan Heyne (while maintaining social distancing, of course), I am invited to take my seat and watch the performance of "Die tote Stadt" at the Cologne Opera. Apart from me, the experience of this event is granted to only a handful of guests, seated at intervals in the otherwise empty auditorium. The actors are visibly excited. It is, after all, the recording of the live stream of the new production of the work, which was premiered on the 4 December 1920 in Cologne, directed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Exactly one hundred years later it is transformed into the present. A present, which, for a long time, made it impossible for the actors to work in their field and which will continue to deprive opera goers of the live experience for an indefinite period. The production, modified for these conditions, attempts a new approach: Opera live, but at home in front of the screen ...

Louisa Clement – Can physical emptiness be filled digitally?

Bonn. Can physical emptiness be filled digitally? How do the interpersonal relationships change in the era of digitalisation? These are questions that occupy Louisa Clement’s mind and have been occupying mine ever since I visited her. I increasingly understand the power of digital communication which currently appears to help us to mainly maintain the contact with the outside world – while the pandemic is raging. “Your Likes made my day “, so popular now, is assuming a worrying underton …

Fabio Borquez – Photography noir? – A studio visit in seven scenes

Before starting in an unaccustomed and unusual way, a short explanation of the idea generating process: I met Fabio Borquez for the first time at the beginning of 2020. The reason was his impressive exhibition Flores del Mal at Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf. On view were photos of nude women who formed almost symbiotic creatures in artistic productions with flowers. The opulent ambience of the castle created the perfect backdrop.

Volker Hermes – Hidden Portraits – Just masquerade?

Düsseldorf-Unterbilk. Even though his Hidden Portraits, which are creations of photographic art and are currently going through the ceiling, may not suggest it at first glance, Volker Hermes is a painter. Originally his very specialised portraits were not planned as an independent series of works, but merely as studies on the history of painting. Similarly, until July 2020 the artist considered Instagram to be an unsuitable medium for presenting his art. But then everything turned out surprisingly different ...

FACES OF EUROPE by Carsten Sander –  Interactive behind the scenes

Sophia Süßmilch – Pure Artist Talk

It only needs a fraction of a second and I’m captivated. What a weird photo! The adjoining, relevant, short and snappy profile in the June edition ofart Magazinunder the promising headline “Die Superheldin”1 clinched it for me. Sophia Süßmilch fascinates me immediately. The same day I write her a mail and enquire about a visit to her studio. She promptly replies. It was to become a special encounter ...

Following the footsteps of erasement and preservation – An eerie but local journey with Gregor Schneider

Mönchengladbach-Rheydt. This locality is of special relevance to Gregor Schneider. Not only was he born in Rheyd, but he also lives and works here as a sculptor, photographer and film maker. When creating the rooms of the Haus u r*, a family home, his work was essentially born. Since the age of sixteen, he has been building the same rooms into existing rooms, duplicating rooms and objects, or makes them vanish. The construction and fitting of twenty-four of these rooms into the German Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2001 resulted in him becoming the winner of the Golden Lion award. Since then, they have been exhibited in new, ongoing contexts worldwide ...