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Solo Exhibition

»Contradiction«

Elfie Semotan

Today, people listen to me because I have something to say. People used to listen to me because they liked to look at me.” (Elfie Semotan)

“Trau dich doch”: I dare you. This provocative slogan, part of a late-1970s advertising campaign for the Austrian brand Palmers, appeared on posters featuring photos of models in seductive black lingerie—nothing short of scandalous at the time. The photographs by Austrian photographer Elfie Semotan bear witness to a new, hedonistic zeitgeist that was gradually challenging conventions through playful experimentation. To this day, her photographs have lost none of their cool elegance, imperfect beauty, and discreetly erotic subtexts. They often reveal much more than the subject matter suggests, and their astute references to iconic works of art history blur the boundaries between art and commercial photography.

Semotan started her career as a photo model in Paris. She was introduced to photography in the late 1960s by her partner at the time, Canadian photographer John Cook, who sparked her passion for working behind the camera. The art of photographic storytelling became her forte: photos that have the look of film stills; visual compositions and figural arrangements that tell stories extending beyond what is shown. This principle led to her years-long advertising campaign for the Austrian mineral water company Römerquelle with photos depicting diverse variations of a ménage-à-trois. Her advertising photos and her portraits of prominent figures from the worlds of art, film, and theater – Louise Bourgeois, Willem Dafoe, Elfriede Jelinek, Milla Jovovich, Maria Lassnig, Martin Kippenberger, Udo Kier, Jonathan Meese, and Daniel Richter – and not least of all, her exclusive artistic collaboration and friendship with fashion designer Helmut Lang brought her international renown. Just as Lang’s minimalistic design had a defining influence on international fashion, Elfie Semotan’s libertine advertising and fashion photos for him as well as for international magazines like Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview, The New Yorker, and Vogue created a new photographic aesthetic. Like her German contemporaries Barbara Klemm, Herlinde Koelbl, and Sibylle Bergemann, Austrian photographer Elfie Semotan used the free spaces that existed within photography to conquer a medium that – like most other artistic disciplines – had long been dominated by men, and to assert her own feminine perspective.

C/O Berlin is honoring Elfie Semotan with this first comprehensive exhibition of her work outside Austria, providing a cross-section of the photographer’s diverse artistic production. A catalog will be published to accompany the exhibition.

o. T., a.d.S. Von Künstlern für Wolford entworfene Strumpfhosen, Secession, Wien, 1995 © Elfie Semotan
o.T., Wien, 1997, a.d.S. Inspiriert von Lucian Freud, Motiv für Wittmann Möbel © Elfie Semotan
Martin Kippenberger, Frieda für alle VIII, Venedig, 1996 © Elfie Semotan . Courtesy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln
o.T., New York, 2003, a.d.S. TV-Story, Motiv für i-D Magazine © Elfie Semotan . Courtesy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln

Elfie Semotan (b. 1941 in Wels, Austria) graduated from the Austrian Fashion School of Design in Vienna and started her career as a model in Paris. In 1969, she returned to Vienna and worked as a fashion, advertising, and portrait photographer for magazines such as Elle, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, The New Yorker, and Vogue. Her artistic collaboration with fashion designer Helmut Lang from 1986–2004 and her campaigns for Römerquelle and Palmers made her famous internationally. Elfie Semotan has been married to the artists Kurt Kocherscheidt (1943-1992) and Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997). Kippenberger and Semotan influenced and inspired each other‘s artistic work throughout their marriage. The series The Raft of Medusa (1996) is one example of the cross-fertilization of their work. In 2011, she was awarded the Austrian Medal for Science and Art. Elfie Semotan lives and works in New York, Vienna, and Jennersdorf.

Framework program

Guided Tours: every Sat & Sun at 2 & 4 pm (in German), 6 pm (in English)
Details

Saturday, June 8, 2019, 5 pm
Curator’s Guided Tour

With Felix Hoffmann & Elfie Semotan
Details

Whitsunday, June 9, 2019 + Whit Monday, June 10, 2019
Additional Guided Tours on Whitsun holidays:
2 & 4 pm (German), 6 pm (English)
Details

20.06. / 18.07. / 08.08. / 29.08.2019 . 7 pm + 7:30 pm
After-Work Guided Tour + Drink
Language: German
Details

Tuesday, Aug 13, 2019, 5 pm > cancelled
Curator’s Guided Tour
with Felix Hoffmann.
Language: German

Thursday, Sep 5, 2019, 7 pm
Artist Talk with Elfie Semotan & Jina Khayyer.
Language: German
Details

Further framework events will be added shortly;

Also have a look at the great framework program of the simultaneous exhibition at C/O Berlin!
»Food for the Eyes . The Story of Food in Photography«

C/O Berlin Foundation

June 8 — Sep 7, 2019
Opening Reception: Friday, June 7, 7 pm
Framework program: please see above

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Amerika Haus, Hardenbergstraße 22-24, 10623 Berlin
[Charlottenburg | Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf]

Opening hours: Daily 11 am – 8 pm

Admission: 10 € / reduced 6 € | Online Ticket

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PiB Guide Nº57 NOV/DEC 2024 © PiB (Photography in Berlin). COVER PHOTO: Rineke Dijkstra, Vondelpark, Amsterdam, June 10, 2005 © Rineke Dijkstra, Galerie Max Hetzler, Marian Goodman Gallery and Galerie Jan Mot. Solo show »Still — Moving Portraits 1992-2024« at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin-Kreuzberg, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 2 photos on right double page spread (p. 5): Kolobrzeg, Poland, July 25, 1992, 2 Vondelpark, Amsterdam, June 10, 2005 © Rineke Dijkstra, Galerie Max Hetzler, Marian Goodman Gallery and Galerie Jan Mot. +++ PiB Guide Editor / V.i.S.d.P. / Art Direction: Julia Schiller & Oliver Schneider · www.ele-studio.de +++ Printed on 100% recycling paper in Berlin-Köpenick by altmann-druck, many thanks!

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»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.

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