Axel Hütte
10 Sep - 08 Oct 2011
AXEL HÜTTE
Towards the Wood
10 September - 8 October, 2011
Together with Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth, the German photographer Axel Hütte (b. 1951 in Essen) belongs to the Düsseldorf School. This generation of German photographers was taught by Bernd & Hilla Becher. Over the past thirty years, Hütte has made a name for himself in the international art world.
Axel Hütte travels the globe, mainly photographing landscapes. His early work is characterised by the confrontation between the urban and natural environments. However, the industrial estates, factories and bridges have gradually given way to mountains, primeval forests and woods. His photographic works are not of a documentary character; rather, they reveal painterly qualities. Axel Hütte does not retouch his photos, nor does he direct anything, but he does employ traditional techniques from classic painting: central perspective, cropping, raised viewpoints, balanced compositions and imposing dimensions.
A central theme of Hütte’s recent work is the reflection of a wooded landscape in water. Reflections and the reintroduction of human figures mark a new phase in his work. This reintroduction of human presence after a long and emphatic absence is ambivalent. There is no trace of direct, physical depiction; only the reflection in the water betrays the presence. In his photographic work, Hütte has always devoted attention to the standpoint of the observer. The parallels with Caspar David Friedrich and the German Romantic movement are obvious. In the reflections, Hütte puts the observer off balance because he meets an observer at a hidden standpoint in the reflection.
Axel Hütte has had exhibitions a.o. at Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid (2011), Schirmer/Mosel Showroom, München (2010), IVAM, Valencia (2009), Fundación Telefónica, Madrid (2008), Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden (2006), Waddington Galleries, London (2006), Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid (2004), Fundación César Manrique, Lanzarote (2004), Huis Marseille Foundation for Photography, Amsterdam (2001), Museum Kurhaus Kleve (2000), Kunstverein Hannover (1997), Fotomuseum Winterhur (1997).
Towards the Wood
10 September - 8 October, 2011
Together with Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth, the German photographer Axel Hütte (b. 1951 in Essen) belongs to the Düsseldorf School. This generation of German photographers was taught by Bernd & Hilla Becher. Over the past thirty years, Hütte has made a name for himself in the international art world.
Axel Hütte travels the globe, mainly photographing landscapes. His early work is characterised by the confrontation between the urban and natural environments. However, the industrial estates, factories and bridges have gradually given way to mountains, primeval forests and woods. His photographic works are not of a documentary character; rather, they reveal painterly qualities. Axel Hütte does not retouch his photos, nor does he direct anything, but he does employ traditional techniques from classic painting: central perspective, cropping, raised viewpoints, balanced compositions and imposing dimensions.
A central theme of Hütte’s recent work is the reflection of a wooded landscape in water. Reflections and the reintroduction of human figures mark a new phase in his work. This reintroduction of human presence after a long and emphatic absence is ambivalent. There is no trace of direct, physical depiction; only the reflection in the water betrays the presence. In his photographic work, Hütte has always devoted attention to the standpoint of the observer. The parallels with Caspar David Friedrich and the German Romantic movement are obvious. In the reflections, Hütte puts the observer off balance because he meets an observer at a hidden standpoint in the reflection.
Axel Hütte has had exhibitions a.o. at Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid (2011), Schirmer/Mosel Showroom, München (2010), IVAM, Valencia (2009), Fundación Telefónica, Madrid (2008), Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden (2006), Waddington Galleries, London (2006), Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid (2004), Fundación César Manrique, Lanzarote (2004), Huis Marseille Foundation for Photography, Amsterdam (2001), Museum Kurhaus Kleve (2000), Kunstverein Hannover (1997), Fotomuseum Winterhur (1997).