In her architectural photographs, Hofer reveals the qualities of space and the kind of architecture that moulds it by using light and colour in a natural manner. She does not alter the conditions of the place that she photographs, capturing the light created by the space as we see it at a given moment. This exhibition shows a selection of her latest works, created in Galicia and Sevilla during the year 2010.
Fúcares Gallery presents in its premises in Madrid the fifth exhibition of German artist Candida Höfer (Eberswalde, 1944).
In her architectural photographs, Candida Höfer reveals the qualities of space and the kind of architecture that moulds it by using light and colour in a natural manner. Cándida Höfer does not alter the conditions of the place that she photographs, capturing the light created by the space as we see it at a given moment. They are silent images inviting us to carefully explore what we see, allowing for a double interpretation: one purely visual and another one that is temporal, for the examination of the spaces enables us to capture the tracks that time has left in them as if they were geological profiles. This approach allows her to visualize the diachronic arrangements and disarrangements of “cultural spaces” (museums, theatres, libraries, etc.) we have created, which our eyes can hardly notice consciously. Thus, Candida Höfer fo rces us to see the extent to which the concept of culture that we are familiar with has already fossilized in the sediments of the world of objects.
This exhibition shows a selection of her latest works, created in Galicia and Sevilla during the year 2010. There is always a relationship between that which is intended to be shown and the way to show it – hence the intermingling of small-format and big-format works. Along with the large images of buildings, we can see photographs of old books taken in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and in the Abbey of Santa María la Real in Oseira. This is not the first time that Candida Höfer uses this kind of images with no real architectural references, but only the piled up volumes. Yet in this case, the light and the antiquity of libraries add a special dramatic intensity to the photographs.
Candida Höfer was educated at Düsseldorf’s Kunstakademie. Her work has been exhibited in such museums as the Kunsthalle Basel, the Kunsthalle Bern, Portikus (Frankfurt am Main), the Hamburg Kunsthalle and, recently, in MARCO, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vigo and in CAAC, the Centre of Contemporary Art in Sevilla. In addition, her work has been shown in collective exhibitions in New York’s MoMA, Toronto’s Power Plant, Kunsthaus Bregenz and the Ludwig Museum (Cologne). In 2002, the artist took part in Documenta 11, and in 2003, together with Martin Kippenberger, she represented Germany at the Venice Biennale.
Opening: Thursday 5th May 2011 / 9 pm
Fúcares MADRID
Conde de Xiquena, 12 1º Izq. - Madrid
HOURS: Monday, 16:30 to 20:30
Tuesday to Friday, 11 - 14 and 16:30 - 20:30
Saturday, 11-14 (August closed)