.ftlbr #3: Ralf Brueck
Duration: 25/06-21/08/2016
Opening: 24/06/2016
Press release (PDF)
Press : .ftlbr #3
Of German Punk, American Folk and Digital Images
.ftlbr # 3: Ralf Brueck
With the third show in the new exhibition format .ftlbr, from 25 June to 21 August 2016, the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf will be showcasing Ralf Brueck, a young exponent of the Düsseldorf School of Photography. Besides works from his series "Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft“ [German American Friendship], in which the Düsseldorf School meets influences from New Color Photography, the exhibition will also show new cycles of works that are concerned with digital manipulation.
Ralf Brueck ranks among those exponents of the Düsseldorf School of Photography who, on the one hand, still studied under Bernd Becher and, on the other hand, learnt their visual language from the "first generation" such as Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth or Candida Höfer. The series "Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft“ (DAF) forms the basis of this exhibition. Artistically, in this series, Ralf Brueck echoed not only the work of the exponents of New Color Photography but also the American photographs by Thomas Struth or Joachim Brohm. The works create their own photographic reality that appears to be authentic because they strictly adhere to the documentary principles of photography and are rooted in the tradition of Eugène Atget, August Sander or Walker Evans. At the same time, in contrast to documentary photography, the works visualise an approach to the motif that feeds off the supposed reality. Apart from the DAF series, there will also be new photographs from the "Distortion" and "Dekonstruktion“ series on view. They critically examine the medium through their deliberate manipulations and digital editing.
"You place a medium between your own self and what you represent as an artist - as a theoretical image appropriation strategy", says Ralf Brueck who, in his works, wishes to wrest an absorbing picture from reality. With his choice of motif and the use of light and colour he creates a symbiosis between New Color Photography and the Düsseldorf School of Photography, between German punk and American folk. By blending cultural and artistic models with the formation of his own visual language, which focuses on the individual picture, his photographic works go beyond the way we normally see things.
The exhibition has been curated by Ralph Goertz who was last at the
NRW-Forum Düsseldorf with the "Joel Meyerowitz Retrospective“. The
exhibition has been created in cooperation with the
IKS – Institut für Kunstdokumentation [the Institute for Art Documentation]. A catalogue
will be published to accompany the exhibition.
Ralf Brueck (born 1966, in Düssseldorf) started studying at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, in 1995, initially under Bernd Becher. Subsequently, he studied under Thomas Ruff and became his master student. Besides numerous national and international exhibitions and awards, among others, in 2004 he was awarded a working grant at the Villa Romana, in Florence, and in 2010, a grant from the Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing in China.
.ftlbr: The Photo Lab exhibition series
This exhibition is the third in the .ftlbr series. The Photo Lab is a new format for the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf. A series of exhibitions, on the upper floor of the building, that addresses the future of the photographic medium. Young, bold and innovative photographic perspectives will be on show - sometimes experimental and unconventional but always extraordinary. The design for the visuals for the new series was developed by Drasdos, a Düsseldorf-based creative studio.
Images
It is permissible to use at no charge the pictorial material listed here for topic-oriented reporting (in print- and online-media as well as via social-media channels) and with inclusion of the indicated photo credit. The exemption from utilization fees expires six weeks after the end of the exhibition.
In the case of an article or reprint, we would be pleased to receive a copy at presse@nrw-forum.de or NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Pressestelle, Ehrenhof 2, 40479 Düsseldorf. Thank you.
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