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Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen and IKS enter into cooperation
UK Women - British Photography between Social Criticism and Identity

28 photographic positions from the United Kingdom

26 May 2024 until 15 Sep 2024


For the first time, the exhibition focuses on photographic positions of 28 women photographers from the United Kingdom and shows how the medium of photography has developed since the 1970s.

With strong themes such as social critique, migration, gender identity, community and diversity, British women photographers have been campaigning for equality since the 1970s, but also for their own artistic language. They question British traditions and outdated role clichés. With humour and self-irony, they simultaneously draw a vivid and sensitive picture of a society in upheaval. In doing so, they repeatedly place themselves at the centre of their own artistic practice and self-confidently formulate their claim to equality.

 

With "UK Women", Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen and IKS PHOTO are entering into their first cooperation. We are looking forward to this wonderful collaboration! The exhibition is curated by Ralph Goertz.

 

Foto: My Favourite Colour Was Yellow, 2016 © Kirsty Mackay

News:

Rafał Milach at Museum Folkwang

RAFAŁ MILACH

The Archive of Public Protests

22. Sep 2023 – 01. Jan 2024

 

Rafał Milach (b. 1978) is the initiator and co-founder of the 2019 collective The Archive of Public Protests, or A-P-P for short. The collective was founded as a reaction to the restrictions on the freedom of expression and the rule of law in Poland by the national conservative national conservative party PiS. The 18 photographers, activists and theoreticians who are currently involved theorists are recording the protests, which have since intensified, and are making their photographs and their photographs and texts for free use, in order to counteract the reporting of government-related media with their own images and their own images and narratives. In addition to restrictions on the freedom of the press, further topics include the ban on abortions, refugee and climate policy, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The Museum Folkwang presents thirteen photographs and four slogans as wallpapers, thus transferring the manifestations of public space into the museum.

 

Ralph Goertz met the artist for an interview for our news format "99sec. of:". Many thanks!

 

99sec. of:

 

Foto: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:
Cornelius Völker at the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf
IKS produces new format "IKS meets"
Cornelius Völker
31.8.2023 - 7.1.2024

 

Whether lighter, leaf or lips, or heroin, heart or hands – as diverse as the motifs in Cornelius Völker’s (*1965) oeuvre are: the artist’s spirited and vividly coloured style of painting, often exploring familiar and everyday subjects shown in a new light, has always been characteristic of his work. Time and again, also objects generally deemed hardly worthy of painting find their way into Völker’s art.


For our new format "IKS meets", Isabel Hernandez visited the exhibition at the Kunstpalast.

 

"IKS meets"

 

photo: Meerschweinchen, 2003 © Cornelius Völker

News:
ZKM presents our HEINZ MACK film

starting on 16th September 2023

 

In occasion of the exhibition "MACK im ZKM" the ZKM - Center for media art in Karlsruhe presents our documentary "HEINZ MACK. Movement - Light Color" on the artist and co-founder of the internationally recognized artist group ZERO. This very rare documentary accompanies the artists over centures.

 

We now did publish the documentary as Video On Demand to make it available worldwide in German. An English version will be released later this year.

 

VOD

 

Foto: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

Simone Nieweg at The Photography Collection Cologne

Simone Nieweg – Plants, Sheds, Arable Land: Working in Nature

Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne

September 8, 2023 – January 21, 2024

 

The photographs of Simone Nieweg show discoveries made in the landscape of intriguing objects both natural and human-made.

 

For the master student Simone Nieweg (b. 1962) in Bernd Becher’s class at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, the view of nature and the arable land created by human hand formed important starting points for her artistic work back in the 1980s. Even then, she was already preoccupied by urgent questions about how we treat our natural resources. Her color photographs, which Nieweg shoots in the Rhineland and other regions of Germany as well as in France using a large-format camera, draw our attention to the often overlooked outskirts of towns and industrial areas. They highlight the aesthetic qualities that unfold when these still un-zoned areas are cultivated in a limited fashion, usually upon individual initiative, for gardening or agriculture. Elements that give the land structure and continuity are captured here: alternative allotment gardens, future building land, patches of meadow, fields going to seed with wild vegetation, vegetable beds, plowed fields in winter, or blossoming fruit trees as harbingers of spring. Structures built by simple means, whether sheds or compost racks, reveal themselves to be typical components of their particular landscapes.

 

Ralph Goertz met the artist for our "99sec. of:". Many thanks!

 

99sec. of:

 

Foto: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

Katja Novitskova at MGK Siegen

IKS produces exhibition trailer

Katja Novitskova. Eyes of the world

1 Sept 2023 - 14 Jan 2024

 

The Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen is now showing the first monographic museum exhibition by Katja Novitskova (*1984 in Tallinn, Estonia, lives and works in Amsterdam) in Germany. Eyes of the World presents a comprehensive overview of her works from the last 10 years and includes a number of new pieces.

Novitskova’s concern is with digital images of nature and their influence on the way we perceive the world. She explores imaging techniques and their use in art, science and society. Her work is based on ongoing investigation of current research in biotechnology and revolves around the question of the future continuity of the organic as a component of technological processes.

The IKS was commissioned to produce the exhibition trailer. Ralph Goertz met the artist for an interview.

 

Film

 

photo: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

IKS produce 99sec. of:

See Yourself As Lovers See You

William N. Copley | Dorothy Iannone

Sammlung Philara

13 Aug 2023 - 14 Jan 2024

 

The Philara Collection is delighted to present two internationally renowned artists in the exhibition SEE YOURSELF AS LOVERS SEE YOU: William N. Copley and Dorothy Iannone. For the first time, the works of the two artists, who exhibited in 1993 under the title BERLINER AMERIKANER (together with the Fluxus artist Emmett Williams) at the Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, will be shown in juxtaposition.

The new exhibition at Philara focuses on freedom, self-determination, and the ecstasy of physical love; it highlights the interconnections and differences in the work of both artists, Americans whose careers developed in Europe and who continued to produce remarkably comprehensive bodies of work right up to the end of their lives.

 

99sec. of:

 

© William N. Copley

News:

IKS meets Sebastian Riemer

Sammlung Philara

Front Page Back End

Sebastian Riemer

13 Aug - 1 Oct 2023

 

The Philara Collection is pleased to present FRONT PAGE BACK END, a selection of photographs by Sebastian Riemer. This exhibition shows works from his Press Paintings series, which focuses on retouched press photos from 1950s America and references the canon of characters featured in the popular press of that era. These photographs raise questions on the inclusion and exclusion of images in the media, and on the economy of image processing, where similar criteria still apply today.

Sebastian Riemer (*1982 Oberhausen) studied under Thomas Ruff and Christopher Williams at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 2010 he received his Master Student qualification from Thomas Ruff.

 

Trailer

 

© Sebastian Riemer

News:

IKS produces film formats for Fridericianum Kassel

TAUBA AUERBACH
TIDE

15 July 2023 – 14 January 2024

 

Tauba Auerbach, born in 1981 in San Francisco and now living in New York, traces the visible and invisible patterns, structures, and rhythms that shape our universe. In addition, Auerbach’s artistic gaze is oriented toward the microcosmic and macrocosmic that constitute the complexity of being. To this end, the artist explores various scientific disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, anatomy, linguistics, and philosophy, while often adopting their rules and methods in an unconventional, willful manner. A special focus of interest lies in those areas that cannot be clearly measured, ascribed, or explained. Ambiguities, interstices, and borderline phenomena are thus recurring themes. Auerbach’s works, featuring paintings, drawings, weavings, films, artist’s books, typography, and sculptures, can be seen as sensitive associations to this artistic research.

The show at the Fridericianum features new works, some developed especially for Kassel, which are complemented by site-specifically staged older works.

 

photo: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

IKS produces trailer for Kunsthalle Duesseldorf
The inescapable interweaving of all lives

Keltie Ferris / Ilse Henin / Hayv Kahraman / Gisela McDaniel / Soraya Sharghi / Emma Talbot

24 June - 17 September 2023


Starting with the works of Ilse Henin, the exhibition weaves a net to the five younger contemporary positions. They are united by the interweaving of supposedly classical motifs read as feminine, but they have all developed them into completely different subjects.


"Femininity" as a motif is placed in a contemporary context. The woman is no longer a beautiful accessory or projection surface of the male gaze, but the main figure and identity bearer of the work. Women, as individual figures, in groups or as part of a family or tribe, stand up for themselves and for all those they represent. They are strong, self-determined heroes of a new narrative of femininity, aware of their position. At the same time, classical notions of femininity and masculinity are questioned.

 

photo: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:
IKS produces trailer for Museum Folkwang
54 HOURS PERFORMANCES
Curated by Marina Abramović and Billy Zhao

 

IKS produces official trailer for: 54 HOURS PERFORMANCES: FREE INTERDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE LAB at Museum Folkwang and achieves a reach of 22,000 viewers in the first 24 hours on Instagram.

 

International students from all faculties of the Folkwang University of the Arts have been working with Pina Bausch guest professor Marina Abramović since the 2022/23 winter semester. They have been creating Long Durational Performances as part of the Free Interdisciplinary Performance Lab. The results will be presented to the public for the first time at Museum Folkwang from 30 June to 9 July 2023 to mark the completion of the fourth and final work phase. The Long Durational Performances are centered on showcasing the focus, perseverance, and concentration of the 24 participating artists, who include singers, dancers, photographers, actors, directors and composers aged 17 to 39. The students have so far been spending three intensive workshop phases in various locations – the most recent being a „Cleaning the House Workshop” in the mountains of Sparta, Greece – preparing for this unique challenge with the help of the internationally acclaimed performance artist, teaching assistant Billy Zhao, and project manager Wayne Götz.

 

Trailer

 

News:

Hans-Peter Feldmann died at the age of 82

 

In memories to the outstanding concept artist and great man, the IKS published the talk between him and Kasper König. This very rare conversation was recorded back in 2012. RIP.

 

TALK

 

 

News:

Rafaël Rozendaal at Museum Folkwang

IKS produce offical trailer and documentation

21 Apr 2023 – 20 Aug 2023

Rafaël Rozendaal

Color, Code, Communication

 

Rafaël Rozendaal is one of the best-known players in digital art. As early as the early 2000s, he conceived, presented, and sold works in the form of websites. In his current NFTs, he also creates references to art history, using generative blockchain technologies. Rozendaal's art materializes as immersive installations, in browser windows, as artist books, and in public spaces.

A highlight of the exhibition is the walk-through presentation of 81 Horizons (2021) in the large exhibition hall. The 81-part NFT series is presented over 1,000 square feet as an immersive video installation in which our viewing experience on screens and in browser windows is juxtaposed with contemplative strolling in an exhibition situation.

 

The IKS was commissioned to produce several films on the exhibition. Many thanks!

 

Trailer

 

photo: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv.de

News:
IKS website reaches 10,000 viewers for the first time per month


The IKS Media Archive is one of the most important media archives of the visual arts and is also becoming increasingly popular as a research tool for museums, art historians and broadcasters. In March 2023, we broke the magic barrier of 10,000 visitors per month for the first time. Thank you very much!

 

© IKS / Felix Reinecker

News:

IKS producing 99sec at Philara Collection

I’ve Only Got Eyes For You

Sammlung Philara

25 March  – 01.October 2023

 

In its new exhibition, I’ve Only Got Eyes for You, the Philara Collection is pleased to present a selection of recent acquisitions.

The artists featured use collage, painting, sculpture and photography for figurative representations that address both personal and wider societal issues. With and within these works, they explore and extend definitions of the portrait.

 

Through moments of recollecting the past and looking ahead to the future, they help us navigate the present. The debate on our roles and self-location against the background of digital realities and social conditions is multi-layered and complex. The focus of the artists in the exhibition ranges across themes of visibility and representation, and discourses on decoloniality and post-humanity, meeting these challenges with images that seek to make our reality more bearable.

 

99sec. of:

 

News:

Laurenz Berges at MGK Siegen

IKS produce film on behalf of the exhibition

Laurenz Berges. Maintaining and Disappearing

17.3.–6.8.2023

 

Special places and changing living environments are the starting point of Laurenz Berges’ photographic works, which always follow a development process lasting several years. Since the 1990s, his documentary and at the same time poetic series of works have shed a remarkable light on abandoned or deserted areas around Etzweiler, Duisburg and parts of eastern Germany.

 

In cooperation with the MGK Siegen, filmmaker Ralph Goertz, director of the IKS, and Thomas Thiel, director of the MGK Siegen, have produced a short film on the work of Laurenz Berges.

 

Film

 

photo: Laurenz Berges at his Duesseldorf Studio © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

Jana Buch and Thea Mantwill

13 Mornings

KIT - Kunst im Tunnel

04.03.–04.06.202

 

In 13 Morgen, a story opens up into the room like a book and forms a bracket for further strands, thoughts and perspectives. Chapters, worlds and sceneries can be passed through in indeterminate order, stand side by side and in relation to each other and unfold their images in the viewer's consciousness. 13 "chapters" as 13 walk-in stations invite visitors to read, listen, linger, think and reflect.

 

Similar to a reading room, a library or a quiet garden, a space of silence and concentration is to be created in the architecture of the KIT, an illuminated space under the ground that is always at the same temperature, as if we were in the belly of a ship.

 

In addition to their architectural reference, all stations are symbolically assigned to a year: in the past, the present and the future - spanning 100 years.

 

99sec of:

 

photo: Thea Mantwill, Jana Buch © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

Peter Piller at Kunsthalle Duesseldorf

there are a couple of things that bother me
11 March – 4 June 2023

 

In spring 2023, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf will present the first survey exhibition in the Rhineland by the German artist Peter Piller (* 1968 in Fritzlar), who has been a professor at the nearby Kunstakademie Düsseldorf since 2018, where he heads the class for fine arts.

 

While still studying in Hamburg, Piller began his work on the Archiv Peter Piller, in which thousands of images and photos that he meticulously collected from existing sources, such as magazines, the internet, postcards or aerial photographs, are ordered, categorised and compiled into series. The most important working tools are always a precise power of observation and a subtle sense of humour, which enable Piller to discover serial, curious and unusual elements in highly banal and trivial-seeming images and to relate them to others. This is how, for example, the aerial photo archive of erde schöner, based on 20,000 aerial photos and categorised into 23 series, was created, on which Piller worked since 2002.

 

The exhibition shows many of his series, especially those rarely or never shown before since the 1990s, and places them in new contexts in the three large exhibition rooms.

 

99sec. of:

 

News:
IKS produces film for 150th anniversary of Villa Hügel

150 years of Hügel, 150 years of transformation - Krupp Foundation in the presence of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier


The IKS was commissioned to produce a film on the occasion of "150 Years of the Hill - 150 Years of Transformation". Ralph Goertz, head of the IKS, was allowed to work on a film based on the Krupp archive. In the presence of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hendrik Wüst, Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Prof. Ursula Gather, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Krupp Foundation and Thomas Kufen, Lord Mayor of the City of Essen, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation kicked off the anniversary year 2023 with a ceremony and around 200 guests.

Many thanks for this exciting task.

 

© Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung

News:

Many thanks for the great interview

"Düsseldorf has developed insanely"

Interview by Ilona Marx

Photos by Markus Luigs

 

Representatives from various working worlds in the city of Düsseldorf were selected for the Düsseldorf Tourism website.

In her interview, journalist Ilona Marx introduces the curator Ralph Goertz - director of the IKS. Thank you very much!

 

Find the interview here

 

News:

New format "IKS meets"

Evelyn Richter

Kunstpalast Düsseldorf

22 Sept 2022 – 8 Jan 2023


In the new series "IKS meets", the IKS presents highlights of the exhibition and art scene with a focus on Northern Westfalia.

The first in the series is the exhibition "Evelyn Richter", which was on show at the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf from 22.9.2022 - 8.1.2023.

 

In a creative period spanning more than 50 years, Richter documented East German life worlds as critically as she did empathetically, always placing people at the centre of her observations.
This is the first comprehensive presentation of Richter's oeuvre in a museum in West Germany. The show presents all of the artist's central groups of works from the beginnings of her career to the turn of the millennium, including series on exhibition visitors in museums from Moscow to Cologne, on artists and especially musicians in action, on people in transit, in trains and suburban trains, as well as on the theme of work, with Richter focusing in particular on women and apprentices.

 

"IKS meets Evelyn Richter"

 

 

News:

Mercedes Azpilicueta

Susurros barrocos | Barockes Flüstern

Sammlung Philara

11.11.2022 - 05.03.2023
 

The Philara Collection is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Germany by internationally renowned artist Mercedes Azpilicueta (b. 1981 in La Plata, Argentina). The artistic practice of Amsterdam-based artist Azpilicueta ranges across performance, drawings, textile works, video art and installation, giving voice to queer, feminist and marginalised figures.

 

In fluid, associative connections, she counters rigid historical narratives, seeking to dismantle them and make room for affective and dissident voices to emerge. Her works are inspired by speculative and fictional Latino literature, the history of (neo-)Baroque art, decolonial history, contemporary popular culture, and various aspects of craft techniques and textile production.

Isabel Hernandez from the IKS met the artist for an interview.

 

99sec.of:

 

photo: Isabel Hernandez © IKS-Medienarchiv.de

News:

IKS comissioned by Draiflessen Collection

THE FINAL BID. Michael Pinsky

30 Oct 2022 – 26 Feb 2023

 

In his installation, Michael Pinsky questions the topic of sustainability and the inflationary use of the term. Many ask themselves whether they can make a difference at all and what steps would make sense.


British artist Michael Pinsky makes this the starting point for his processual installation The Final Bid, which he will be premiering at the Draiflessen Collection. What makes up the largest portion of our average greenhouse gas emissions here in Germany is not air travel, energy consumption, or food, but — at about 4 tons per person — the consumption of manufactured goods such as furniture, clothing, and appliances.


In a playful way, Pinsky invites people to take an active step and interrupt the never-ending flow of new goods in a symbolic action.

 

99sec. of:

 

Foto: Isabel Hernandez © IKS-Medienarchiv

Facing Britain opens in Hanover

GAF - Gallery for Photography shows 135 works

19.10. - 27.11.2022


The brilliant picture show "Facing Britain" presents a multifaceted view of the British Isle and its social and cultural characteristics. In addition to everyday scenes that are as banal as they are curious and sympathetic, viewers are also made aware of politically explosive events: Ascot meets Belfast, the Falklands War meets intimate moments in British living rooms, hip bankers meet desperate workers. Where the boundaries of the documentary blur, aspects of artistic or portrait photography come to light.

 

The exhibition "Facing Britain", curated by Ralph Goertz, will be shown for the first time at GAF - Galerie für Fotografie after venues in Goch, Darmstadt, Goslar and Kraków.

 

 

IKS goes Liechtenstein
Candida Höfer at the Lichtenstein Art Museum, Vaduz


For the exhibition "Candida Höfer. Lichtenstein" from - 10.04.2023 at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in Vaduz, the renowned artist Candida Höfer has created a new series of works.

She took the group of 20 photographs of motifs last year especially for the show. In interplay with selected works from classical modernism to the present, a mutually enriching dialogue unfolds between Candida Höfer and the collections of the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and the Hilti Art Foundation.


As part of the exhibition, our documentary film "Candida Höfer. Sense of Space" by Ralph Goertz will be shown. Thank you!

 

photo: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

IKS goes Florence

Dokumentary on Tony Cragg at Museo Novecento

 

The Museo Novecento in Florence presents for the first time a huge survey show on British sculptor Tony Cragg. As part of the show "Tony Cragg. Transfer" the museum do present our documentary "Tony Cragg. Parts of the World" by Ralph Goertz. Many thanks!

 

photo: Isabel Hernandez © IKS-Medienarchiv

News

Documentary on Jörg Sasse now ready for streaming

Vimeo on Demand - with English subtitles

 

Our documentary "JÖRG SASSE - works 1981 - 2016" is now available on vimeo on demand in an exclusive version with English subtitles. The film by Ralph Goertz gives a deep inside view on the work by Jörg Sasse, but also a deeper understanding on contemporary photography. TOP!

 

News:
50,000 visitors at "Candida Höfer. Image and Space"


Around 50,000 paying visitors were recorded at the exhibition curated by Ralph Goertz (IKS) and Ludger Derenthal (SMB) "Image and Space. Candida Höfer in dialogue with the Photography Collection of the Art Library" at the Museum of Photography in Berlin.


The first cooperation between the IKS and the National Museums in Berlin was internationally acclaimed by visitors and the press. A total of 90 works by Candida Höfer entered into an artistic dialogue with 120 works from the last 150 years from the Art Library's collection - including works by Eugène Atget, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Frank Cousins, Florence Henri and Helga Paris.

We are delighted about the great cooperation and the success of the exhibition!

 

Trailer

 

© IKS-Medienarchiv

News:

Breathing Water, Drinking Air at  the Philara Collection Duesseldorf

12 Aug 2022 - 25 June 2023

 

IKS did produce their "99sec. of" on the new presentation of the Philara Collection under the title "Breathing Water, Drinking Air".

 

The presentation shows never previously exhibited works, while also offering new perspectives on those already familiar. It encompasses both international and local contemporary art, including photography, painting, video, sculpture, installation, and performance. Breathing Water, Drinking Air engages with reflection within and on nature, and the hierarchisation of humanity and nature. The thematic focus of the exhibition is on permeable boundaries, exchange and interaction, as well as nature’s capacity to act in times often termed the ‘Anthropocene’, where the relationship between humanity and nature has fundamentally changed. The precious and evocative resources of air and water represent here a world of unknown existences, as well as fundamental concepts that disclose new perspectives. Breathing and drinking are understood not only as activities essential for provision and survival but also as elements of the renegotiation of relations between humanity and the environment in overcoming anthropocentrism.

 

99sec. of:

 

News:
Martha Jungwirth at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf

2.9. – 20.11.2022

 

Landscapes, portraits, Goya’s Maja, animals, witches and Lady Gaga, a house, or just a group of written characters, some of which are from antiquity or the time of the pharaohs—Martha Jungwirth’s painting is enormously diverse. Often it appears in an empty field, in an endless space.

The artist uses special grounds for her paintings such as cardboard, brown or lined paper, the backs of paintings, old maps, and account books: surfaces that suggest a story, as do the historical subjects from Greek mythology and art history that she includes in her work. And yet, to her it is all ultimately a spot: “a spot is a spot is a spot an intelligent one or a stupid one, nothing else,” as she once said.

 

Martha Jungwirth (* 1940 in Vienna) occupies a singular position in Austrian painting with her poetic, abstract watercolours and oil paintings and her gestural style of painting. From 1956 to 1963 she studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and she initially exhibited along with five male colleagues in the artist group Wirklichkeiten. In 1977 she was invited to participate in documenta 6.

 

The Kunsthalle Düsseldorf presents with 80 works her largest survey show in Germany.

 

Trailer

 

Foto: Ralph Goertz © IKS-Medienarchiv

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