The photo exhibition SCAN at the nüüd.berlin gallery shows works by the Croatian artist Deni Horvatić for the first time in Germany.

In Horvatić’s life-size photographs of scenes from everyday life, the artist removes the distance between the environment and the portrayed by choosing a particular perspective: Shot from below, the images hide as much as they reveal, denying the viewer a glimpse of the part of the body we most immediately associate with identity – the face.

The best portraits give us the intimate feeling of being face to face with the person portrayed. But even in the most intimate embrace, the constraints of the physical world prevent us from fully uniting with that person; two bodies cannot command the same point in space.

Deni Horvatić overrides this in his SCAN project. Using a scanner-like camera, the artist records his subjects in such a way that the viewer is offered a point of view that he literally shares with the sitter: I see you from exactly where you are. By removing the distance between the bodies, the portraits in the SCAN series fulfil the fantasy of a complete merging of the viewer and the seen, which is actually impossible. At the same time, Horvatić’s chosen – sometimes fetish-like – motifs again create closeness and intimacy with the sitters. One thinks one is lying in bed with the closely entwined couple („Bedroom 1/3“) or sweating in the sauna oneself („Sauna 3/10“). In the „Locker Room“ you want to quickly gather your sports clothes or get into the bath yourself („Bath 6/8“). The pain of the fallen cyclist („Accident 5/6“) is palpable and no one wants to get under the rotating blade of the lawn mower („Accident 1/6“).

Deni Horvatić

Deni Horvatić was born in 1991 in Čakovec, Croatia. He has been working with the Croatian fashion brand XD Xenia Design since 2019. He won the Marina Viculin Award for exceptional achievements in Croatian photography, established by the international photo organisation Organ Vida. In September 2020, the exhibition SCAN was shown at the Miroslav Kraljevic Gallery in Zagreb, Croatia. In May/June 2022, he will participate in the 36th Youth Salon in Zagreb, the largest and most prestigious exhibition event for visual artists under 35 in Croatia. Deni Horvatić lives in Čakovec, Croatia, where he works as a visual artist.

June 3 — July 16, 2022
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 2, 6 pm

nüüd.berlin gallery

Kronenstraße 18 · 10117 Berlin
[District: Mitte | Borough: Mitte]

Opening hours: Thu – Sat 1 – 7 pm, and by appointment: +49 1577 533 08 89

Admission free