Daniel Josefsohn
dal 29/4/2010 al 29/5/2010
Segnalato da
29/4/2010
Daniel Josefsohn
Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg
Everything's gonna be alright mother. Josefsohn's works capture the spirit of a generation that playfully mixes media and styles and has found a very individual language for its environment and way of life. But the unique nature of his work lies in the cracks in the surface. Although his pictures are aesthetically pleasing and well-composed, their glossy surfaces conceal an altogether darker, deeper and unspoken level. A good example is his photograph of a middle-class residence in the German countryside.
"In artistic terms, Daniel Josefsohn ranks alongside Wolfgang Tillmanns as one of the most outstanding photographers of our time." (Prof. Klaus Honnef)
Blurring the borders between art, design and fashion photography, Josefsohn’s works capture the spirit of a generation that playfully mixes media and styles and has found a very individual language for its environment and way of life. But the unique nature of his work lies in the cracks in the surface. Although his pictures are aesthetically pleasing and well-composed, their glossy surfaces conceal an altogether darker, deeper and unspoken level. A good example is his photograph of a middle-class residence in the German countryside. The architecture, the little garden and the curtains in the window are all innocuous enough. But this is the scene of the “Cannibal of Rothenburg” case, a crime that shocked the world. It is precisely this conflict between an aesthetically pleasing surface and the history or events that are associated with it that gives the pictures their disconcerting and decidedly political edge.
Whether the subject is right-wing extremism in Germany or the Middle East conflict, Josefsohn invariably finds unusual motifs and unsettling scenes. His series “Jewing Gun” portrays young Israeli soldiers. The photographs are characterised by the contrasts between military uniforms and small accessories like sunglasses, which make the whole series resemble a fashion spread for a magazine. In fact, what the accessories actually do is show the hue of personality the soldiers have tried to bring to their regulation clothing. Josefsohn does not capture his subjects like an impartial bystander, but as a highly conscious observer who eschews the repetitive stereotypes we so often see in the media.
Daniel Josefsohn was born in 1961 and currently lives in Berlin. Since 1995 he has been working as a freelance photographer for magazines including Die Zeit, the magazine of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Jetzt!, Brand Eins and Monopol. He first came to public attention with a series of black-and-white portraits of youngsters, which he took for an MTV campaign. Alongside his photographs and photo essays, Josefsohn also makes films and actual products. For example, through the artist group Elternhaus he was involved in the production of the "MoslBuddJewChristHinDao" fragrance, which was launched for world peace. The fragrance itself was created by Mark Buxton, while Josefsohn developed the idea, the bottle, the packaging and the advertising campaign.
The exhibition is accompagnied by an edition of Daniel Josefsohn.
Image: Fleurop, The Jewing Gun - IDF Soldiers in Israel, 2009
Press contact:
Beate Anspach, Public Relations Telephone +49(0)40 32 21 58 or presse@kunstverein.de
Opening april 30th at 7 pm
Kunstverein Hamburg
Klosterwall 23 - 20095 Hamburg
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday and Public Holidays 12 am – 6 pm Open on Good Friday, Easter Monday, May 1st, Whit Monday, Ascension Day, Feast of Corpus Christi, October 3rd, December 25th and 26th, January 1st.
Admission: 5,- Euro / Reduced 3,- Euro