March 2 - May 20, 2013
Grüzenstrasse 44 + 45, CH-8400 Winterthur (Zurich), Switzerland
Architectures and cities are both volumes and images alike. We experience them directly, physically and sensually, as well as through pictures. Pictures speak a language of their own. They offer a discourse that is quite unlike the physical experience of architecture. They transform volume into surface; distil matter into forms and signs – rarely, if ever, leaving it as it is. That is probably why so many architects try to get involved in determining the image of their buildings. The classic architectural photographer is their instrument, following their instructions, photographing the building at the zero hour as soon as it has been completed, cleaned and prepared – before any signs of use emerge, and before the building is occupied and transformed through use.
Concrete – Photography and Architecture seeks to approach the singular and complex relationship between architecture and photography in light-hearted, narrative and dialectical ways. The exhibition explores issues of history and ideology, as well as the specifics of form and material, in the photographic image. The visual appeal of destroyed or dilapidated buildings is also addressed, as are their powerful demonstrations of power and exclusivity, fragility and beauty. To what extent does photography influence not only the way architecture is perceived, but also the way it is designed? How does an image bring architecture to life, and at what point does it become uncanny? How do settlements develop into cities? Or, in sociological terms: how do work and life interconnect differently in, say, Zurich and Winterthur, as opposed to, say, Calcutta? And how do skyscrapers and living spaces translate into the flat, two-dimensional world of photography?
With works from, among others, Iwan Baan, Édouard-Denis Baldus, Lewis Baltz, Domenico Bresolin, Balthasar Burkhard, Gregory Crewdson, Willie Doherty, Sigfried Giedion, David Goldblatt, F.C. Gundlach, Lucien Hervé, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Germaine Krull, Stanley Kubrick, Sol LeWitt, El Lissitzky, Charles Marville, Gordon Matta-Clark, Randa Mirza, Lucia Moholy, Nils Nova, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Thomas Ruff, Julius Shulman, Ezra Stoller, Paul Strand, Thomas Struth, Hiroshi Sugimoto, William Henry Fox Talbot, Jakob Tuggener, Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown, Paul Virilio, Michael Wesely, Anita Witek, Ulrich Wüst and Tobias Zielony.
Curator of the exhibition: Thomas Seelig
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalog published by Scheidegger&Spiess.
Main sponsors: Vontobel Stiftung, Lotteriefonds Kanton Zürich
Further generous support comes from Stadt Winterthur and Ars Rhenia Stiftung.
http://j.mp/15iYSu6
http://www.fotomuseum.ch/fileadmin/fmw/bilder/presse/2013/Concrete/Concrete_PressPreannouncement.pdf
http://www.fotomuseum.ch/
◇ CONCRETE – ARCHITEKTUR UND FOTOGRAFIE - Bücher - Scheidegger & Spiess
Herausgegeben von Daniela Janser, Thomas Seelig und Urs Stahel
1. Auflage, 2013
Text Deutsch und Englisch
Gebunden
ca. 400 Seiten, 200 farbige und sw Abbildungen
22.5 x 28.5 cm
ISBN 978-3-85881-369-5
In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Fotomuseum Winterthur
