Kunstquartier Bethanien | »SHIFTING FOCUS«

+ Extensive framework programme with Artist Talks, Lectures, Guided Tours:
see www.shiftingfocusberlin.com

+ Aftershow-Party @Nirgendwo [Friedrichshain]: Saturday, July 23, 2016, 8:30-02h (Facebook Event)

Exhibition opening hours: 14-20h
Admission free

Concept

SHIFTING FOCUS is a group show of international artists primarily focusing on photography. The participating artists first met in 2012 when taking their Masters Degree in Photography wcourse at the University of the Arts London and at the Royal College of Art in London. Since then, they have remained in close artistic exchange, working actively on the planning of a touring exhibition which culminates in this first exhibition of SHIFTING FOCUS in Berlin.

Throughout their cooperation, they would like to investigate the ways in which the photographic medium has been expanded beyond its ‘ordinary’ contexts and how contemporary photography is interpreted and conceived by visual artists. The show provides a deeper insight into their personal positions toward the photographic medium and juxtaposes them.

Transversality, experimentation and media contamination seem to have a central part in their practices, and the presented artworks oscillate between the realms of the conceptual, the documentary and the appropriated. For this reason the work of this group cannot be easily categorized. Nevertheless, there are several lines of thought that run through the selected works. One such theme is the way in which artists working with photography react to the new liquid identity ascribed to the photograph in the age of the omnipresence of images. Some of the artists reveal an increased interest in the physicality of the photograph, hybridizing it to form an object or installation that engages with the space and adding layers of meaning beyond what is within the frame. It is noticeable in the show a turning away from digital technologies back towards analogue processes, along with an involvement in the re-enactments of archival material and the restage of past and future narratives. The role of the photographic medium has been questioned, reshaped and challenged by the exhibition artists, proposing a diverse vision in between abstraction and reality.

This is met with a certain degree of ‘transversality’ much akin to the changes within painting when encountered with the rise of photography; a conceptual shifting of focus and an intermingling with other disciplines in order to secure its posi- tion within fine arts.

The exhibition Shifting Focus examines the climate of discourse created by these 15 artists of diverse backgrounds within the settings of their academic institutions. The group show aims to inform on their engagement with the expansion of photography into other materials and conceptual territories in response to new challenges present in the field of photography. All the artists have been exhibited internationally, with many of the works being published and acclaimed.

By proposing this touring exhibition we would like to enter into a dialogue between different artistic environments, concerning new approaches toward photography within the realm of fine art. We believe The Projektraum, the renowned Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin not only offers a superb 250sqm exhibition space, but also it provides a solid network of international artists and art lovers in Berlin and beyond. Shifting Focus has decided on this great institution, as it is the perfect platform to get into an active exchange with the Berlin’s art scene. During the 10 days of the exhibition a full programme of lectures, workshops and guided tours will be provided to the audience. The highlight of the programme is the Photobook Market that takes place from 22 to 24 July 2016, introducing the undiscovered and ‘up and coming’ of the photobooks with independent publishers and selfpublishing artists from all over Europe.

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Exhibiting artists

Marianne Bjørnmyr (Norway), Marcelo Issamu Deguchi (Brasil), Karolina Maria Dudek (Poland), Joachim Fleinert (Danmark), Francesca Marcaccio Hitzeman (Italy), Nathalie Joffre (France), Ute Klein (Germany), Wagner Kreusch (Brasil), Espen Krukhaug (Norway), Federica Landi (Italy), Sara Moralo (Spain), Simone Padelli (Italy), Bianca Salvo (Italy), Sonja Trabandt (Germany), Nick Wiltshire (United Kingdom)

Marianne Bjørnmyr explores through her practice our perception of photography as a slice of evidence, providing with imagery in between myths and believes.
www.mariannebjornmyr.com

Karolina Maria Dudek seeks to identify the effects of twenty-first century’s fin de siècle atmosphere on everyman’s existence, oscillating between the human as an individual and the human as an element of complex world structure. www.karolinamariadudek.com

Joachim Fleinert defines himself as a collector and bases his practice on found photography dealing with its historical meaning and examining the role of memory. www.fleinert.com

Marcelo Issamu Deguchi‘s work is about the connection and perception of space and the underlying symbols and concepts that define these relationships.
www.marcelodeguchi.format.com

Nathalie Joffre’s work questions memory and its reconstruction. It involves a wide range of practices from poetry to video, photography and installation. www.nathaliejoffre.com

Ute Klein addresses the genre of still life, including an interest on sculptural and spatial aspects as well as the expressiveness of the object itself and its possible textures and materialities.
www.uteklein.com

Espen Krughaug explores in his work the realm of insomnia. Dark and mystic documentations are staged to dreamlike installations.
www.espenkrukhaug.com

Wagner Kreusch explores Japanese concepts of space, serenity and purity which come across in the way that flowers and plants are arranged in his photographic installations.

Federica Landi deals in her photographic practice with surfaces, textures and multiple layers of the picture offering a compelling imagery of landscapes and territories.
www.federicalandi.com

Francesca Marcaccio Hitzeman’s work, as writer as well as an artist, is conceived in relation to issues around the post-documentary representation in relation to places, history and memory.
www.francescamarcaccio.com

Sara Moralo investigates new possibilities of gender construction. Her practice is concerned with issues related to gender identity, the politics of the body and sexuality.
www.cargocollective.com/saramoralo

Simone Padelli’s approach sits inbetween street and staged photography – he uses the environment and the landscape to investigate the human condition, the fragility and isolation among people.
www.simonepadelli.com

Bianca Salvo sets her artistic research and practice with the aim to testify how mankind appropriates his experience, exploring abstractions and aspects of the collective unconscious through the combined use of on line archive’s sources and collected materials.
www.biancasalvo.it

Sonja Trabandt juxtaposes conceptual photography against her documentary work. With these oppositions she examines her perception of the human nature and its vague conditions.
www.sonjatrabandt.com

Nick Wiltshire’s practice explores the psychology of the landscape image, picking apart memory, place and symbols of spirituality, leading to complex expressive abstract works of specific locations in the United Kingdom. www.nickwiltshire.co.uk

For more info about the artists and their exhibited work please visit
www.shiftingfocusberlin.com/artists

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Framework programme

Please visit the exhibition website for all further details about the programme, the photobook market and the workshops & artist talks!
Note: the registration deadline for the 4 workshops is July 10, 2016

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