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13/10/2006

Michael Schmidt

Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin

Solo show

Galerie Nordenhake is very pleased to present a solo exhibition with the German artist Michael Schmidt. The show focuses on his work "Irgendwo" (Somewhere) from 2001-2004 consisting of a selection of so far 71 images. The meticulously composed black and white photographs, with their rich nuances in the greys, were taken over the course of three years during Schmidt's extensive journeys through out Germany. The artist has arranged the images in groups of nine photographs for display in the main space of the gallery.

"Irgendwo" presents rather bleak views of province-life in the reunited Germany with suburban houses and village pubs, deserted low-cost supermarkets and historical buildings, as well as distanced motorways cutting through the landscape. Typically for his Modus Operandi Schmidt conflates architectural and landscape photographs with portraits and shots of seemingly unimportant details. It is only through the arrangement in groups - the interplay and dialogue between the images - that the individual images acquire their distinct meaning and the issue of a relation between spatial environment and individual biography comes into view. The photographs, however, do not depict particular places. In his work Schmidt seems to be more interested in tracing the loss of a subjective connection to "home as a place with identity":

"Home says nothing to me. In any case, home is what you carry with you, inside you. You remember places because you spent the most wonderful or the most horrible time there during your childhood. But these places have become more arbitrary, less specific. ... There is no such thing as an objective category that one might call 'home' any more. Such things take place subjectively nowadays." (Michael Schmidt)

Michael Schmidt was born 1945 in Berlin. He lives and works in Berlin und Schnackenburg an der Elbe. The artist approached photography autodidactically in 1965 and is today considered one of the most important German photographers of the post-war generation. His central works are: "Berlin Kreuzberg" 1984, "Waffenruhe" (Ceasefire) 1988, "EIN-HEIT" (UN-I-TY) 1991 and "Frauen" (Women) 2000. In 2005 the series "Irgendwo" was exhibited at Heilbronner Kunstverein, Kunstverein Oldenburg, Arp Museum Rolandseck and Kunstmuseum Magdeburg. In 2006 it could be seen at Lindenau-Museum Altenburg. Schmidt has exhibited widely in Europe and abroad. Recent shows include Kunstverein der Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, 2000, Kunsthalle Bremen 1999, Westfalischer Kunstverein, Munster, 1998, und Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 1997. In 1988 and 1996 he had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. From end of October on his work "EIN-HEIT" will be on display at the Berlinische Galerie Berlin. The artist participated in numerous group exhibitions, this year among others Berlin Biennial, Berlin and "Zwischen Wirklichkeit und Bild", The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokio und Kyoto, 2006. Schmidt realised several book publications with his works. Available are: "Irgendwo", Koln 2005; "Berlin nach 45", Gottingen 2005; "Frauen", Koln 2000; "Landschaft - Waffenruhe - Selbst - Menschenbilder (Ausschnitte)", Munster 1998 und "EIN-HEIT", Berlin 1996. This is Michael Schmidt's first solo exhibition at Galerie Nordenhake.

Opening: Saturday, October 14, 6- 8:30pm

Galerie Nordenhake Berlin
Zimmerstrasse 88-91 - Berlin
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 11am- 6pm

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