Adolph Menzel and Lois Renner

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 Pferdekopf liegend, im Geschirr, 1848. These will be presented along with 9 large-format photographs by Lois Renner.