David Malin
24 Mar - 06 May 2006
DAVID MALIN
Opening on Friday, March 24 from 5.00 pm - 8.30 pm
„If a certain level of skills is obtained, science and art readily merge in aesthetics"
(Albert Einstein 1923)
The extraordinary work of the astrophotographer David Malin teaches us once more how closely these two areas are linked, how they complement and even enrich each another. His distinctive images of stars, comets and distant galaxies are not only fascinating in regard to sciences but also because of their artistic qualities. They mediate a certain tranquility that invites us to pause for a moment. The close-up and panoramic views on the secret wonders of the universe seem to be almost surreal. One in a way tends to associate them with abstract compositions leading us into an ocean of contrasts and light reflections.
David Malin was born in 1941. He studied chemistry and afterwards specialized in microphotography before exclusively focusing on the exploration of the universe as a photographic scientist at the Anglo- Australian Observatory (AAO) in New South Wales. There he worked with the largest telescope throughout the world and soon developed innovative techniques which should revolutionize astronomical photography. Supported by his sophisticated amplification and development methods he was able to expand into unknown regions of the universe and to make them visible for the human eye. He could even take images of extremely faint celestial objects and reproduce all the subtle features and details which could not be displayed before.
David Malin's photographs have long be acclaimed and recognized in scientific books and magazines, but only recently they have found fame because of their artistic qualities. In 1997, the AAO and the British Council in Australia drew the finest of Malin's images together into a series of exhibitions which are on tour around the world. The first venues of Night skies. The Art of Deep Space were exhibited in the Australia House in London and in the Victorian Art Centre in Melbourne. Afterwards the show travelled to England, Australia, South Africa, India, China and the USA. A version of Night skies is on view at the Liverpool Art Gallery and Museum in the UK and substantial parts of the series have been acquired by the London Science Museum, La Vilette in Paris and the Centro Dantesce in Ravenna.
After a series of further solo and group exhibitions, the Karsten Greve gallery in Paris dedicated a substantial solo exhibition to David Malin in 2004. From March 24 to May 6 a selection of some 30 photographs are on view in the Cologne gallery.
Each print was reproduced on a special high quality paper which is covered with an individually composed light sensitive layer under the direct supervision of the artist in order to achieve the ideal reproduction of every motif. By this sophisticated technique the prints gain an extraordinary depth and receive the status of a unique copy.
David Malin lives in Sydney together with his family. His writings, discoveries and extraordinary photographs have received as well important art prizes as international scientific awards.
© David Malin
Dust and gas adrift in orion (UKS 1)
Platinum/Palladium print
h: 40.6 x w: 50.8 cm / h: 16 x w: 20 in
Opening on Friday, March 24 from 5.00 pm - 8.30 pm
„If a certain level of skills is obtained, science and art readily merge in aesthetics"
(Albert Einstein 1923)
The extraordinary work of the astrophotographer David Malin teaches us once more how closely these two areas are linked, how they complement and even enrich each another. His distinctive images of stars, comets and distant galaxies are not only fascinating in regard to sciences but also because of their artistic qualities. They mediate a certain tranquility that invites us to pause for a moment. The close-up and panoramic views on the secret wonders of the universe seem to be almost surreal. One in a way tends to associate them with abstract compositions leading us into an ocean of contrasts and light reflections.
David Malin was born in 1941. He studied chemistry and afterwards specialized in microphotography before exclusively focusing on the exploration of the universe as a photographic scientist at the Anglo- Australian Observatory (AAO) in New South Wales. There he worked with the largest telescope throughout the world and soon developed innovative techniques which should revolutionize astronomical photography. Supported by his sophisticated amplification and development methods he was able to expand into unknown regions of the universe and to make them visible for the human eye. He could even take images of extremely faint celestial objects and reproduce all the subtle features and details which could not be displayed before.
David Malin's photographs have long be acclaimed and recognized in scientific books and magazines, but only recently they have found fame because of their artistic qualities. In 1997, the AAO and the British Council in Australia drew the finest of Malin's images together into a series of exhibitions which are on tour around the world. The first venues of Night skies. The Art of Deep Space were exhibited in the Australia House in London and in the Victorian Art Centre in Melbourne. Afterwards the show travelled to England, Australia, South Africa, India, China and the USA. A version of Night skies is on view at the Liverpool Art Gallery and Museum in the UK and substantial parts of the series have been acquired by the London Science Museum, La Vilette in Paris and the Centro Dantesce in Ravenna.
After a series of further solo and group exhibitions, the Karsten Greve gallery in Paris dedicated a substantial solo exhibition to David Malin in 2004. From March 24 to May 6 a selection of some 30 photographs are on view in the Cologne gallery.
Each print was reproduced on a special high quality paper which is covered with an individually composed light sensitive layer under the direct supervision of the artist in order to achieve the ideal reproduction of every motif. By this sophisticated technique the prints gain an extraordinary depth and receive the status of a unique copy.
David Malin lives in Sydney together with his family. His writings, discoveries and extraordinary photographs have received as well important art prizes as international scientific awards.
© David Malin
Dust and gas adrift in orion (UKS 1)
Platinum/Palladium print
h: 40.6 x w: 50.8 cm / h: 16 x w: 20 in