The Fotografis Collection- A History of Photography
29. September 2008, 19:38:24 unter: Art Spaces, Austria, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Exhibitions, German, Podcasts, Video, ViennaHow does art find entrance into a medium which was still considered by many as only a photocopy of reality without artistic value until the middle of the last century? The writer and painter Friedrich Duerrenmatt pointed out a way: Reality, too, must be formed and given a voice that, in this case, tells us stories. By using the tool of photography for this art of making reality speak to us, what was previously only considered photocopy becomes a poetic procedure, a human treasure hunt, whose booty is timely and timeless at the same time.
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The exhibition, “Fotografis - Collection Reloaded”, in the Bank Austria Kunstforum, offers a space for such photographic figurations of reality along with its trails of the temporality to be displayed. The works from the internal FOTOGRAFIS collection reveal the paths of development of the photographic view. The extension in the form of various loans makes it possible to pose confrontations with photographic positions of our time—from the pictorial photography of Alfred Stieglitz to Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, and Elgar Esser, from the new objectivity of Albert Renger-Patzsch, Edward Weston, or Paul Strand to recent works of James Welling, Günther Förg or Candida Höfer.
The Bank Austria Kunstforum FOTOGRAFIS collection was created in 1975. This step was remarkably farsighted for its time. On the one hand, it was remarkable considering that, at this time in Austria, the photographic arts had relatively little value and were considered to be merely collectible items. On the other hand, it is also remarkable in that the farsightedness of that time has resulted today in a collection with outstanding work from the history of the photography, which could have only been collected in our time through high financial expenditure.
The selection of the purchased work was dictated by the goals of demonstrating the history of artistic photography, giving photography researchers material, and promoting the new generation of photography. The structure of the photography collection was conceived and facilitated by Anna Auer and Werner Mraz. Both had created the “Galerie Die Brücke” several years earlier, the first gallery in Europe to exclusively specialize in photography. During their time of working on the collection, scarcely three hundred works were purchased. The earliest work of the collection dates back to the 1940s, apart from international works, the collection also covers the work of Austrian artists.
CastYourArt asked Lisa Kreil and Florian Steininger—who are responsible for the conception and organization of the exhibition—for a glimpse into the collection and exhibition concept. How photography can be seen as a human treasure hunt with a both timely and timeless booty, can be explored at the Bank Austria Kunstforum on the Freyung until October 29th, 2008. The collection will then move to Prague before it becomes on permanent loan to the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg. (wh/jn)
