Thomas Kellner – Brasília, a Utopia made of concrete
June 2–25, 2020
Kunstverein Offenbach e.V., Offenbach, Germany
Kunstverein Offenbach
Aliceplatz 11, 63065 Offenbach
Opening hours: Montag – Samstag 14:00 – 20:00 Uhr
contact: Gisela von Slatow +49 (069) 77035767
www.kunstverein-offenbach.de
“There is no way to neither classify it as photography nor declassify it as such.” Corrêa do Lago, André, Brasília. 50 anos de utopia moderna. Thomas Kellner. Karla Osorio Netto, 2010, Editora ARP, Brasília, Brasil, page 22
“In these works linked to Brasília, Kellner recognizes the architecture of the city by recognizing the strength and superiority of its forms.” (André Corrêa do Lago)
The German Fine Art Photographer Thomas Kellner regularly traveled to Brasília from 2005 to 2009 to artistically capture the planned capital of Brazil and its unique architecture. On the occasion of Brasíla's 60th birthday, Kellner brings his project back to mind and recalls Brasília's basic utopian idea. It should be a city where milk and honey flow and which makes every conceivable human need possible, full of progress and confidence. Behind the futuristic capital of Brazil, built by the "candangos", there is also a masterpiece of visionary architects and modern urban planners, whose work Thomas Kellner is also enthusiastic about. Kellner's work particularly honors the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who is the main character behind the modernist buildings in the city. Niemeyer took advantage of the possibilities of the newly won reinforced concrete and its deformability like no one before him and created a "symphony of forms." He asked for the impossible and with his architecture seemed to abolish the laws of gravity. Hereby he brought a unique and modern lightness to the architecture that was previously not technically possible. With his work, Thomas Kellner gives the architecture of Brasília his own signature. He composes new, constructive-deconstructivist image designs from the impressive buildings and creates a different and unmistakable perspective on the capital of Brazil. Kellner's artistic approach is idiosyncratic, even experimental, and yet he manages to interpret the city in a new, unprecedented way and to make it understandable to our eyes. His style is as modern as the buildings themselves that Thomas Kellner photographed for his project. With his work on Brasília, he makes a visual contribution that is impressive in view of the city's short history and just sixty years of existence. Last autumn one could marvel at Thomas Kellner's exhibition about Brasília in the Brazilian constitutional court. Shortly (July, 2020) hang individual works, as well as for the first time published sketches of his project in the art association Offenbach.
"Kellner made something visible. We see not only the physical component of concrete and glass, but also the vision behind the construction of these buildings. ”(Paul Wombell)
Thomas Kellner - Brasília, Utopia Concreted
June 2 – 25, 2020
Offenbach Art Association
Image: © Thomas Kellner and VG BildKunst Bonn: Brasilia Congress
Kunstverein Offenbach e.V., Aliceplatz 11, KOMM-Center, 1st floor, 63065 Offenbach
www.kunstverein-offenbach.de
Thank you to Gisela von Slatow and the whole team in Offenbach for showing my Brasilia exhibition for the 60th anniversary of this extraordinary city
