Landmarks. Thomas Kellner & Manuela Höfer

Landmarks
Thomas Kellner & Manuela Höfer
28.10. – 24.11.2016
Höfer Berlin, Germany
Opening: Friday, October 28, 2016, 19h
Opening hours: Tue-Thu 14-18h, and by appointment

“[…] [The temporary fragments tell us about the process of seeing], they are, in a uniquely photographic way, an instruction and an interpretation of a place, and a marker of the artist’s presence there.” Nordström, Alison Dancing Walls Art Galerie Siegen, John Cleary Gallery Houston, K4 galerie Werner Deller, Saarbrücken, Galerie Maurer, München, Schneider Gallery Chicago, in focus Gallerie Burkard Arnold, Köln, 2007, Vorländer Siegen, Houston, Saarbrücken,München, Chicago, Köln page 3

The exhibition presents conceptual/complementary photographic works - Thomas Kellner's architectures and Manuela Höfer's architectural collages. Both artists work in different ways with their archives of their own work: Thomas Kellner is known for his limited editions of large formats that are shown in exhibitions worldwide. Since last year, Manuela Höfer has been "upcycling" her stock of analog black-and-white prints, using traditional collage techniques and a sewing machine to create structures and new, more sculptural-looking objects.

About the artists

When Thomas Kellner and Manuela Höfer first met in London in 1998, they both had a similar interest in an experimental photographic style and conceptual way of working.

German photo artist Thomas Kellner is known for his images of seemingly dancing architecture of global landmarks from the outside and inside. Even though his photos show popular motifs that are mass-produced, his work is unique due to his new artistic method, "Visual Analytical Synthesis". This involves taking not just one picture, but many planned ones, in order to merge them into one in the form of contact sheets. His work is often classified as cubism, as his creative process involves construction, but the finished work is more like deconstruction. Thomas Kellner's works imitate the wandering of the eye, which shows us segments of the whole that are brought together to form an image. Consequently, his pictures do not deconstruct architecture but reconstruct our view of it. At the same time, his works reflect the flood of images in which we find ourselves today.

Manuela Höfer has been experimenting with the square format of her Hasselblad camera since 1995. The resulting precise architectural compositions are shot without a tripod. A briefly captured moment, the negative edge becomes part of the whole. This was followed by color double exposures with the analog 35mm camera - two perfect moments, combined in two different places on just one negative and united to form the perfect whole.

Both lives are guided and shaped by these works. Thomas Kellner travels the world, his journeys take him to commissions in China or Brazil, to America and through Europe. Exhibitions, art fairs and book publications accompany his artistic career.
In 2003, Manuela Höfer was commissioned by Barclays Bank to photograph the "landmarks" of Europe in her style and produce them in large formats.

Thank you to Manuela Höfer for showing my work from her collection