ANDREAS MÜHE
PATHOS AS DISTANCE

With Andreas Mühe (*1979, Karl-Marx-Stadt), from 19 May to 20 August 2017 the House of Photography at the Deichtorhallen will be presenting a young German photographer whose aesthetic perception is influenced by the world of theater, staging, and transformation

The exhibition Pathos as Distance, which was developed in close cooperation between Andreas Mühe and Ingo Taubhorn, curator of the House of Photography, brings together older works and new, in some cases previously unpublished photographs. For the first time ever, Andreas Mühe’s young and promising oeuvre will be presented in a comprehensive exhibition.

Formally a concept photographer who layers his subjects with references to art history, conceptually Andreas Mühe is an archaeologist who often reveals the makeup of our collective consciousness. The historical context of his pictures blurs distinctions, and the question of the repeatability of a moment—an enduring interest especially of photography — becomes visible in his works.

Mühe’s works tempt us to make spontaneous judgements. Only on closer examination can we discern whether they show a subjective reality. The fact that he draws essential impressions from his biography and translates them into pictures in no way contradicts this: beautiful aspects that create intimacy are combined with subjects that give pause and create distance. The result is pictures from a rotating present that looks backward as well as forward.

Works from all series and phases of Andreas Mühe’s oeuvre will be assembled in a unique presentation in the central hall of the House of Photography, where the common threads that link them will become all the more apparent, including renowned series such as Obersalzberg (2010–2013) and A.M. (2013) as well as previously unpublished works. Three smaller rooms will offer a more intimate setting for the work Haltung from the series Obersalzberg as well as two unpublished series.