Adrian Sauer presents his recent body of work ‘Raum für Alle’ (space for everyone). In this series of 10 works he looks at the ‘lived spaces’ of the Bauhaus school, captured on historical b/w-photographs. To fully grasp these images and to re-examine what they might transport over time and cultural boundaries he first conducted art historical research on further information about the colours and patterns of walls and furniture that are not revealed by these “documents”. With the aid of various fragments and circumstantial evidence he ‚re-constructed’ these lost spaces case by case: using the means of his signature approach of ‘re-thinking and re-materialising’ imagery in a juxtaposition of analogue and digital processing. The artificial recreation is not a living space, it remains an image. Although derived from photographs, they are not photographs; nor are they photorealistic images. They approach the rooms depicted in them in a manner similar to painting: they show us ‚spaces‘ – containers of time, of thought, of life per se.
Adrian Sauer conceived a specific layout where his work is displayed within a conceptual, ‘architectural framework’: the booth will feature abstracted, ‘classical’ Bauhaus-elements – architectural interventions, flooring, colour-codes and furniture pieces. This backdrop subtly hints to the ‘material’ aspects related to the photographs, which are displayed as ‘visual material’ as well – some hanging ‘classically’ on the wall, while others leaning or laying in space, waiting for their future use.
Adrian Sauer (b.1976) explores aspects, applications and ways of producing digital images. He poses questions concerning the limits of the image in an age where camera images are increasingly becoming hybrid constructs of light measurement and mathematical calculations. Sauer’s approach revolves around creating new digital compositions on the basis of his own photographs. In doing so, he gradually covers the existing image, bit by bit, with a new layer of colour. The reality of the photograph is replaced by the processing and reality of the studio where Sauer’s images are re-created. Likewise, he discovers irritating changes that result from the technique of photography.
“While some of his works are dedicated to the semantic and pragmatic dimension of image usage – how images are used and read within a certain context – his main interest lies in the morphology’ of the digital image, his ‘form theory’: How is it constructed at the most minute level and how does the transfer work from a visible, physical reality towards a stored, calculated one? ” (F. Ebner, Centre Pompidou)
Sauer’s work has been shown extensively in recent years a.o. Pasquart Biel; Sprengelmuseum, Hannover; Albertinum, Dresden; Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, DZ Bank Art Collection FfM; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Fotomuseum Winterthur; Hermes Foundation, Bern; Les Rencontres d‘Arles and Deichtorhallen Hamburg.
Upcoming exhibitions include; ‘Kleine Geschichte(n) der Fotografie, Sprengelmuseum Hannover; Adrian Sauer – SOLO, Kunstverein Oldenburg. A first comprehensive monographic publication is scheduled for mid 2020.
Adrian Sauer’s work is part of numerous public collections e.g. Sammlung des Bundes; MDBK Leipzig; Museum Folkwang; Sammlung d. Freistaates Sachsen, Dresden; CNAM-Centre Pompidou; Coll. Helga de Alvear; The Albright Knox, USA; Sammlung Philara; Sammlung Olbricht ; Zabludowicz Collection; BES Arte Lissabon; Bank of Spain Collection; DZ Bank Art Collection; Berlinische Galerie; SAP Art Collection.
Paris Photo 2019
November 7–10, 2019
Grand Palais Paris
