For its starting programme in the new year, the Bildhalle gallery presents two exhibitions both of which are on the theme of snow. Two Swiss photographers have been chosen to open this new show with the series “Colder” by Thomas Flechtner who is originally from Winterthur and “Jours Blancs” by the Genevan photographer, François Schaer.
Colder by Thomas Flechtner
Thomas Flechtner, born in Winterthur in 1961 and a graduate of the Ecole de photographie de Vevey, spent several years from 1997 in La Sagne, not far from La Chaux de Fonds. In “Colder”, which took shape in and around La Chaux de Fonds from 1996 to 2000, and was published in his book “Snow” (Lars Müller Publishers) in 2001, it is cold – no: colder, and it is night.
But the snow, which forms gigantic, cowl-‐like shapes on the roofs and cars, reflects the cool light of the street lamps and the warm light emanating from the shop windows and apartments.
Colours are created that are unlike any others we usually see.
The observer in these deserted streets is alone and feels almost like a figure from one of Edward Hopper’s paintings.
But we are enchanted by the magic of it all, by a magic that is only to be found at this time of the day and year, and which we have a need to discover.
Nadine Olonetzky
Jours Blancs by François Schaer
François Schaer, born in Geneva in 1967, is fascinated by the presence of people in mountain landscapes.
Ski slopes, fences, posts and avalanche barriers together with the lifts and mountain huts: the signs of human activity are unmistakable.
“Snow-covered mountains and a nebulous veil create a white backdrop.
Set against it are spots of colour: blue, yellow, red – the colours typical of winter sport inject life into the emptiness of the alpine world.
The few coloured shapes protrude from he uniformity of the snow.
Paradoxically, the skiing industry’s taming of Nature is further underscored by the photographer’s
romantic streak: Schaer shows us the grandeur of the mountain landscape but punctuates it with signs of the civilized world.
The images slip seamlessly from one world into the other and create an aesthetic, timeless whole.”
Pauline Martin, Curator, Musée de l’Elysée
EXHIBITION
Colder by Thomas Flechtner
Jours Blancs by François Schaer
Bildhalle
Seestrasse 16
8802 Kilchberg
Switzerland
[email protected]
078 624 30 00
http://bildhalle.ch
