Teilen
160810: Axel Hütte - Paintings before the lens
Galerie Ruzicska
Axel Hütte
17.07.10 - 14.08.10
Paintings before the lens
The most recent works by Axel Hütte, one of Bernd Becher’s students, can be viewed at the Galerie Ruzicska in Salzburg until the middle of September.
The 59-year old artist calls his six-part landscape photograph series - which is currently being presented in Austria for the first time - “Towards the Wood”. Hütte is one of the photographers who had the opportunity to study with Hilla and Bernd Becher in the 70s and 80s, and it seems rather odd that his work has not been presented in Austria earlier. Together with Candida Höfer, Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky and Thomas Ruff he impressed with his “documentary views” and at first concentrated on shooting municipal ensembles. But already during the 1990’s, he began to focus on details of a building, which, in turn, conveyed his perspective of the entire building.
In Salzburg, large-format photos of trees, ponds, and the remains of snow in waters are displayed that all seem contrived. In some instances, blurred images of naked women, resembling elves or forest spirits, emerge in his works making the photographs appear as if they were digitally manipulated. But in actual fact, as the artist readily explains, these are analogue photos that have been rotated by 180 degrees and thereby irritate the viewer. Hütte is mainly interested in mirroring effects, which he estranges in such a way that the viewer is unable to identify the picture at a first glance. For Hütte, the choice of the detail plays the key role in his work. This choice - and Hütte’s view of this decisive detail - determines the entire composition, and consequently the onlooker’s perspective.
Through photographing wooded landscapes, Hütte comes very close to the art of painting. The broken light on foliage groves, for example, remind of Monet’s water lilies. But also Jackson Pollock’s All-Over principle, come to one’s mind when viewing Hütte’s works. The “Jacobi Gardens”, a winter picture of a pond, reminds of some of Gerhard Richter’s more realistic works. Hütte serves a wide range of art historical details with these very poetic pictures; and German literature, philosophy and music can also be found in his forest pictures. His work is easily associated with the Brother Grimm’s fairy tails, with works by Wilhelm Hauff and songs by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Armin.
With this exhibition, which is soon to be published as a book, Hütte reveals himself as an inspiring artist who offers the onlooker - in the best artistic tradition - an abundance of interpretations. Or simply allows the devotion to sensuous impressions.
By Susanne Rohringer
Galerie Ruzicska
5020 Salzburg, Faistauergasse 12
Tel: +43 662 630 360
Fax: +43 662 630 60
email: Salzburg@ruzicska.com
http://www.ruzicska.com
Opening hours: Tue – Fri: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
 |
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
160810
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska
5020 Salzburg, Faistauergasse 12
Tel: +43 662 630 360, Fax: +43 662 630 60
Email: salzburg@ruzicska.com
http://www.ruzicska.com
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 10-18, Sa 10-14 h
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska
5020 Salzburg, Faistauergasse 12
Tel: +43 662 630 360, Fax: +43 662 630 60
Email: salzburg@ruzicska.com
http://www.ruzicska.com
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 10-18, Sa 10-14 h
