Skip to content

New print issue • Neue Printausgabe:
☞ PiB Guide Nº60 MAY/JUNE 2025

Duo Exhibition

»Isabelle Le Minh: After Alfred Ehrhardt – Cristal réel«

Isabelle Le Minh / Alfred Ehrhardt

Curated by Sonia Voss

Presented for the first time in Germany, the exhibition Cristal réel by the German-French artist Isabelle Le Minh (b.1965) calls attention to the archival work of the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung that normally remains hidden from view: the cataloguing of approx. 20,000 photographs and the restoring of 1,000 glass plates. This archival work offers not only the impetus for further art historical research but also inspiration for new artistic engagements.

A number of contemporary artists have already undertaken an examination of Alfred Ehrhardt’s work. But no one has interpreted Ehrhardt’s work as intensely, directly,and profoundly as Isabelle Le Minh. Her new work is part of her After Photography series in which she reinterprets the works of master photographers and examines their creative methods. Following her investigations of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Bernd and Hilla Becher, she now turns her attention to Alfred Ehrhardt.

Isabelle Le Minh, Amazonenstein, Pikes Peak, Colorado, Series Kristallklar, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, UV direct print on Plexiglasandpigment print on paper, 40 x 30 x 3 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Isabelle Le Minh, Pyrit, Brosso, Piemont, Series Kristallklar, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, UV direct print on Plexiglasandpigment print on paper, 40 x 30 x 3 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Isabelle Le Minh, Calcit stalaktitisch, Viamala, Graubünden, Series Kristallklar, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, UV direct print on Plexiglasandpigment print on paper, 40 x 30 x 3 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Isabelle Le Minh, Quarz #3, Series Cristallogrammes, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, Photogram of objects from archive materials, pigment print on Baryte paper, 28 x 20 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Isabelle Le Minh, Quarz #4, Series Cristallogrammes, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, Photogram of objects from archive materials, pigment print on Baryte paper, 28 x 20 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Isabelle Le Minh, Phlogopit-Muskowit, Series Cristallogrammes, after Alfred Ehrhardt, 2019, Photogram of objects from archive materials, pigment print on Baryte paper, 28 x 20 cm © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020
Alfred Ehrhardt, Gypsum, Reinhardsbrunn, Thuringia, Glass plate negative 1938/1939, reprinted 2019, 30 x 20 cm © bpk / Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Alfred Ehrhardt, Gypsum, Sutera, Sicily, Glass plate negative 1938/1939, reprinted 2019, 80x 60cm © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Alfred Ehrhardt, Beryl, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Glass plate negative 1938/1939, reprinted 2019, 30 x 20 cm © bpk / Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung

In emphasizing particular aspects of photographic archives conceptually, Isabelle Le Minh addresses in her work not only the photohistorical conditions of photography but also its phototheoretical underpinnings. Here she has elected to work with Alfred Ehrhardt’s crystal photographs, one of his most fascinating body of works consisting of 600 photographs and 400 glass negatives. This is no coincidence since Le Minh studied crystallography prior to studying art – she also understands the world of regularly shaped crystals from a scientific perspective. The exhibition title Cristal réel is a term from crystallography describing imperfect crystals found in nature.

Two new series form the basis of the exhibition: Kristallklar and Cristallogrammes. In Kristallklar, Le Minh combines Ehrhardt’s negatives, including their imperfections and retouchings, with landscape images found on the internet of the crystals’ particular places of origin. The artist plays with the ambivalent character of photography: on the one hand it is a factual document, on the other a subjective construction; Ehrhardt approaches crystals as objects for scientific research, but he also transforms them into objects of his aesthetic worldview. Cristallogrammes is a series of photograms in which small, abstract constructions made of photographic archive materials are arranged on light-sensitive paper so that they resemblecrystals in their final form.

The crowning highlight of the exhibition is the image of a sculptural configuration of books on crystallography, recalling, at first glance, one of Alfred Ehrhardt’s crystal photographs:

Alfred Ehrhardt, Epidote, Knappenwand, Untersulzbachtal, Glass plate negative 1938/1939, reprinted 2019, 80 x 60 cm © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Isabelle Le Minh, Épitrope, afterAlfred Ehrhardt, 2019, Pigment print on Baryte paper,Alu-Dibondandinstallation of books, 115 x 85 cm and books © Isabelle Le Minh / ADAGP, Paris 2020

Exhibition Events

(The events will be taking place with reservation, according to the official requirements. Registration for each event is required by email.)

Friday, June 26, 2020, 11 am – 6 pm
Exhibition preview / Opening Reception
The artist Isabelle Le Minh and the curator Sonia Voss will be present.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 7 pm
Musical accompaniment to Alfred Ehrhardt experimental films, newly digitized in 4K: Spiel der Spiralen (1951, BW, 10 min.), Tanz der Muscheln (1956, BW, 10 min.), Gletscher und ihre Ströme (1962, color, 10 min.) as well as Korallen – Skulpturen der Meere (1964, BW, 12 min.). Performed by Nicole Heartseeker (piano) and jazz musician Mulo Francel (saxophone, clarinet, oboe).

Sunday, August 30, 2020, 2 pm
Artist talk with Florian Ebner, director of the photographic collection at the Center Pompidou, Isabelle Le Minh and Sonia Voss, curator of the exhibition (talk in German).

Sunday, September 6, 2020, 2 pm
Rosa Russo, lecture in front of Originals “Working in secrecy. The restoration of Alfred Ehrhardt’s photographs on glass“. The lecture will be held in German. Free entry.
Note: The event is already fully booked. For our waiting list please register via E-Mail.

Kindly supported by the PERSPEKTIVE Fund for Contemporary Art & Architecture of the Bureau des arts plastiques of the Institut français, sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture and the Goethe Institute.
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung / Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation Berlin

June 26 — Sep 6, 2020
Opening Reception: Friday, June 26, 11 am – 6 pm,
in presence of the artist and curator.
Framework program: please see above

[btn_ical_feed]

Auguststraße 75, 10117 Berlin
[District: Mitte | Borough: Mitte]

Opening hours: Tue – Sun 11 am – 6 pm

Admission free

Preceding exhibition at Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung

Detail of/aus: Thomas Wrede, Haus im Gebirge, 2007, C-Print, 120 x 240 cm, Edition: 1/2 AP © Thomas Wrede, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2019 / Courtesy Galerie Wagner + Partner and the artist
Detail of/aus: Thomas Wrede, Haus im Gebirge, 2007, C-Print, 120 x 240 cm, Edition: 1/2 AP © Thomas Wrede, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2019 / Courtesy Galerie Wagner + Partner and the artist

»Models of nature in contemporary photography«

Oliver Boberg, Sonja Braas, Julian Charrière, Shirley Wegner, Thomas Wrede
Jan 11 — June 21, 2020

Ensuing exhibition

The PiB Guide, PiB's bi-monthly print issue | Also available as an annual subscription © PiB – Photography in Berlin. #pibguide
The PiB Guide, PiB's bi-monthly print issue | Also available as an annual subscription © PiB – Photography in Berlin. #pibguide

#pibguide

Stay informed about forthcoming exhibitions at this venue (and/or others) with an annual subscription of PiB's bi-monthly print issue, the PiB Guide! Shipping is offered worldwide.

Current photography exhibitions/events recommended in…
Berlin | Mitte

Robert Morat Galerie | Christian Patterson »Gong Co.«

f³ – freiraum für fotografie | »Radical Beauty«

Akademie der Künste | Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler & Ludwig Schirmer »Ein Dorf 1950-2022«

CHAUSSEE 36 Photography | »Metamorphosis« Heinz Hajek-Halke’s Photomontages & New Image-Makers

Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung | Kilian Breier »Abstrakt Konkret – Materie Licht und Form«

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung | »Do you have something to fight for?«

PiB Guide Nº59 MAR/APR 2025 © PiB ⸺ Photography in Berlin. COVER PHOTO · TITELBILD PiB Guide Nº59: Simon Lehner, Balance study with boy, 2018. From the series »How far is a lightyear?«, 2005–2019. Pigment print, 90 × 72 cm. Courtesy KOW Berlin © Simon Lehner. Part of EMOP Berlin's main festival exhibition »what stands between us« at Akademie der Künste in Berlin-Hansaviertel, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 6 photos on right double page spread (p. 5), top left to bottom right: 1) Johanna Maria Fritz: o.T., 2022, aus der Serie "Ein afghanischer Teppich", 2022. 2) Bérangère Fromont, aus der Serie "Except the Clouds", 2018. 3) Inga Ivanova: Family Kassi 1965, aus der Serie "TANOE: Echos der Wurzeln", 1965 Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Color Printing Process RA-4 4 Kamila K Stanley: Avellar, Archivalischer Tintenstrahldruck. 5) Rosalind Lowry: Endangered Species List 481, 2023, Pigment-Print (Installationsansicht; Leinen, Farbe), 78 x 58 cm. 6) Lisa Wassmann: Sebiana Venice, Florida, 2024, aus der Serie "Somewhere Else", 2007-2024, Courtesy Lisa Wassmann.

PiB Guide Nº59 MAR/APR 2025 © PiB ⸺ Photography in Berlin. COVER · TITELBILD: Simon Lehner, Balance study with boy, 2018. From the series »How far is a lightyear?«, 2005–2019. Pigment print, 90 × 72 cm. Courtesy KOW Berlin © Simon Lehner. Part of EMOP Berlin’s main festival exhibition »what stands between us« at Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg in Berlin-Hansaviertel, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 6 photos on right double page spread (p. 5), top left to bottom right: 1) © Johanna-Maria Fritz: o.T., 2022, aus der Serie “Ein afghanischer Teppich”, 2022. 2) © Bérangère Fromont, aus der Serie “Except the Clouds”, 2018. 3) © Inga Ivanova: Family Kassi 1965, aus der Serie “TANOE: Echos der Wurzeln”, 1965 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Color Printing Process RA-4. 4) © Kamila K Stanley: Avellar, Archivalischer Tintenstrahldruck. 5) © Rosalind Lowry: Endangered Species List 481, 2023, Pigment-Print (Installationsansicht; Leinen, Farbe), 78 x 58 cm. 6) © Lisa Wassmann: Sebiana Venice, Florida, 2024, aus der Serie “Somewhere Else”, 2007-2024, Courtesy Lisa Wassmann. +++ PiB Guide Editors / V.i.S.d.P. / Art Direction: Julia Schiller & Oliver Schneider

Current print issue
PiB Guide Nº59
MAR/APR 2025

#pibguide

Discover great photography exhibitions in Berlin & beyond in PiB’s bi-monthly print issue, the PiB Guide! The current edition has been published as a booklet, A6 format · 52 pages · English & German · worldwide shipping.

Order

Aktuelle Printausgabe
PiB Guide Nº59
MAR/APR 2025

#pibguide

Entdecke großartige Fotoausstellungen in Berlin & darüberhinaus in PiBs zweimonatlicher Printausgabe, dem PiB Guide! Die aktuelle Ausgabe ist erschienen als Booklet im DIN A6 Format · 52 Seiten · Deutsch & Englisch · weltweiter Versand.

Bestellen

PiB's E-Newsletter

Sign up for PiB's free, weekly eNewsletter and stay up-to-date in Berlin's vibrant photography scene! Assembled with love once a week in English & German for an international audience of photography enthusiasts, collectors, curators and journalists.

Free sign-up!
#pibnewsletter – the weekly, digital E-Newsletter by PiB Photography in Berlin
»PiB — Photography in Berlin« | PiB’s website, PiB’s weekly E-Newsletter, and the bi-monthly published PiB Guide: page 12 & 13 from the PiB Guide Nº15 Nov/Dec 2017; feat. the exhibition Evelyn Hofer »Cities, Interiors, Still Lifes. Photographs 1962 – 1997« at Galerie Springer Berlin; image credits: Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964 / Coney Island, New York, 1965 / Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966, all 3 photos © Evelyn Hofer, Estate Evelyn Hofer.
»PiB — Photography in Berlin« | PiB’s website, PiB’s weekly E-Newsletter, and the bi-monthly published PiB Guide: page 12 & 13 from the PiB Guide Nº15 Nov/Dec 2017; feat. the exhibition Evelyn Hofer »Cities, Interiors, Still Lifes. Photographs 1962 – 1997« at Galerie Springer Berlin; image credits: Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964 / Coney Island, New York, 1965 / Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966, all 3 photos © Evelyn Hofer, Estate Evelyn Hofer.

You & PiB

Reach a dedicated audience of art & photography enthusiasts in Berlin & beyond – by presenting your exhibition/event or institution/product/service with PiB!

Read more
#Tags for this article:
Cart
Back To Top
Search