Collection Regard opens today, as part of the continuing administration of the estate of Hein Gorny (1904-1967), its new photographic exhibition “Hein Gorny, New Objectivity and Industry”, curated by Francois Hébel and Antonio Panetta.
This exhibition was shown last year as part of Foto/Industria bienniale. In its fourth exhibition concerning the photographic work of Hein Gorny, Collection Regard shows a new aspect of his extensive and manifold oeuvre, this time focusing on advertising photography in the context of the New Objectivity and the New Vision. Accordingly, Gorny’s pictures are distinguished by their stringent objective imagery and dynamic composition. Thus, a further contribution to the rediscovery of the oeuvre of Hein Gorny is made.
« Hein Gorny (1904-1967) was a highly versatile photographer. Self-taught, he had extensive, in-depth knowledge of photographic techniques and was specialized both in photographic and darkroom processes. He photographed a broad range of subject matter, including portraits, architecture, and animals as well as images used in industrial, commercial, and illustrational contexts. In addition he created experimental photographs, primarily working with macrophotography. Advertising photography was the field in which Hein Gorny carried out numerous commissions and was most well-known. He was primarily active in Hanover and Berlin. Hein Gorny is described by Heinrich Riebesehl as a “pioneer of modern commercial photography” in a catalogue published in conjunction with the Spectrum Photogalerie’s inaugural exhibition of 1972. He was masterful in his groundbreaking ability to fuse the photographic spirit of his time with the demands of advertising photography.
Particularly important clients for Gorny were the Hanover-based companies Pelikan and Bahlsen. Hein Gorny published photographs in the company magazine Pelikan-Blätter and was commissioned with taking photographs for the anniversary publication honoring the company’s centennial anniversary. Over seventy photographs by Gorny were included in another anniversary publication, Günther Wagner: 1839–1939. During the same period, Gorny produced similar photographs in conjunction with the commemorative publication H. Bahlsens Keksfabrik: 1889–1939, produced by Bahlsen company in 1939 for its fiftieth anniversary. Almost all of the more than fifty photographs in this publication stem from Gorny. These include the imposing company office and factory complex on Podbielskistraße, images of assembly line production, and the company’s edible products.
The obsessive detail of the compositions that you will find in this exhibition demonstrate to what extent Hein Gorny was able to photograph given products – whether cookies, pens, collars, wallpaper, or cigarettes – in painstaking compositions and striking patterns of arrangement. He compiled his images in a manner that satisfied his artistic aim of establishing a harmony between the proportions of the objects and the fall of light, while simultaneously presenting the product, its surface, texture, and quality to the advantage of the manufacturer. »
Marc Barbey
EXHIBITION
New Objectivity and Industry
Hein Gorny
Curated by: Antonio Panetta and Francois Hébel
From February 12 to May 27, 2016
Collection Regard
Steinstraße 12
10119 Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30 847 11 947
[email protected]
http://www.collectionregard.com
