Wolfgang Zurborn
07 May - 16 Aug 2009
WOLFGANG ZURBORN
May 7 – August 16, 2009
at Deichtorhallen Hamburg
“Drift – Photography 1980 – 2006“, shown at the House of Photography, is the first comprehensive exhibition of the work of Wolfgang Zurborn (born in 1956).
In addition to the photographic series “Drift” and the recent project “China! Which China?” (which was published as a bibliophilic leporello), a selection of the early black and white works (1980 – 1985) will be presented for the first time. These works already show the artistic approach of Wolfgang Zurborn’s work of the past 25 years.
Ingo Taubhorn, curator of the show, says: “I have known Wolfgang Zurborn ever since the time he was studying Photography and have been intensely watching his work as an artist. More than any other German photographer he has remained true to his personal imagery which he has been continuously developing – from the first black and white works to the complex colour exposures. In high-standard compositions, the viewer is confronted with a multifaceted reality that – at second glance – irritates since it is composed of fragments, which are no longer based on personal experience. Like Lewis Mumford already said in 1952, we are confronted with a ‘second-hand’ world.” (Ingo Taubhorn)
Wolfgang Zurborn’s photographs show the world as cutouts. Often views are obstructed; various layers are being related to each other. Zurborn includes reflections, shades, and billboards in his pictures. Two-dimensional surfaces break through three-dimensional space; together they form the picture’s plane.
Zurborn uses principles like focus and out-of-focus as elements of composition, thus fragmenting the picture’s space while details and colour combinations open up new perspectives. In their complexity, Zurborn’s photographs demand the observer to take a closer look.
In approaching the foreign world of the highly complex mega cities of Peking and Shanghai, especially after the Olympics of 2006, Zurborn takes the challenge to translate this world into his pictorial language. He underlines closeness rather than depicting the unknown, exotic distance of these cities: “In these cities, the world appears to me as a condensed collage of signs, bodies, and spaces, something like a semiotic overkill, which – at first sight – I am unable to decipher.” (Wolfgang Zurborn)
During the exhibition, an exclusive limited edition will be available for purchase. (30 prints plus 5 AP, paper measures 30 x 40 cm, hand-printed colour print, signed, dated and numbered by the artist), Retail price: € 250,- during the exhibition, € 400.- afterwards.
May 7 – August 16, 2009
at Deichtorhallen Hamburg
“Drift – Photography 1980 – 2006“, shown at the House of Photography, is the first comprehensive exhibition of the work of Wolfgang Zurborn (born in 1956).
In addition to the photographic series “Drift” and the recent project “China! Which China?” (which was published as a bibliophilic leporello), a selection of the early black and white works (1980 – 1985) will be presented for the first time. These works already show the artistic approach of Wolfgang Zurborn’s work of the past 25 years.
Ingo Taubhorn, curator of the show, says: “I have known Wolfgang Zurborn ever since the time he was studying Photography and have been intensely watching his work as an artist. More than any other German photographer he has remained true to his personal imagery which he has been continuously developing – from the first black and white works to the complex colour exposures. In high-standard compositions, the viewer is confronted with a multifaceted reality that – at second glance – irritates since it is composed of fragments, which are no longer based on personal experience. Like Lewis Mumford already said in 1952, we are confronted with a ‘second-hand’ world.” (Ingo Taubhorn)
Wolfgang Zurborn’s photographs show the world as cutouts. Often views are obstructed; various layers are being related to each other. Zurborn includes reflections, shades, and billboards in his pictures. Two-dimensional surfaces break through three-dimensional space; together they form the picture’s plane.
Zurborn uses principles like focus and out-of-focus as elements of composition, thus fragmenting the picture’s space while details and colour combinations open up new perspectives. In their complexity, Zurborn’s photographs demand the observer to take a closer look.
In approaching the foreign world of the highly complex mega cities of Peking and Shanghai, especially after the Olympics of 2006, Zurborn takes the challenge to translate this world into his pictorial language. He underlines closeness rather than depicting the unknown, exotic distance of these cities: “In these cities, the world appears to me as a condensed collage of signs, bodies, and spaces, something like a semiotic overkill, which – at first sight – I am unable to decipher.” (Wolfgang Zurborn)
During the exhibition, an exclusive limited edition will be available for purchase. (30 prints plus 5 AP, paper measures 30 x 40 cm, hand-printed colour print, signed, dated and numbered by the artist), Retail price: € 250,- during the exhibition, € 400.- afterwards.