Adolph Menzel and Lois Renner - The Artist´s Studio
9 August to 2 November 2008
extended to 30 November

Kuppelsaal

Lois Renner takes photographs in which the representation of reality is defamiliarised by the artist’s intervention, and the relationship of the depicted spaces and objects to one another is not immediately or easily comprehensible. The spaces shown in his photographs have an enigmatic character – are they real spaces or model-like constructions? Are the objects significant, or is their presence incidental? The gap between reality and ‘art reality’
(Kunstwirklichkeit) is a theme that had already been visually explored by Adolph Menzel in his Atelierwand (Studio Wall). Werner Hofmann described Menzel’s 1872 painting as a “coded manifesto”, emphasising the complexity of the work. This also explains why the painting has remained an inspirational force, also for the work of Lois Renner. The exhibition includes three works by Adolph Menzel on the subject of studio images: Atelierwand from the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Atelierwand, 1852, from the Nationalgalerie Berlin and the gouache
Friedrich d. Gr. besucht Pesne in Rheinsberg (Frederick the Great Visits Pesne in Rheinsberg).
These will be presented along with approx. 7 large-format photographs by Lois Renner.

Exhibition curator: Dr. Jenns Howoldt