On the occasion of the opening of the Elbphilharmonie, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg is preparing a major exhibition in cooperation with the HamburgMusik gGmbH with support from the Hamburg Cultural Authority under the title Elbphilharmonie Revisited, which will be on view in the Hall for Contemporary Art at the Deichtorhallen from 10 February to 1 May 2017.
For many centuries, artists have directly reacted to architectural contexts and attempted to blur or even dissolve established boundaries between visual art, architecture, and design with their works. Artists themselves often traverse the boundaries between these areas. The exhibition Elbphilharmonie Revisited
follows in this tradition of artistic reflection on and adaptation of architecture. Internationally renowned artists were chosen for the project who share a close relationship to the world of architecture and who took their inspiration from the test phase of the building over the course of several months before the opening.
With the exhibition Elbphilharmonie Revisited, the Deichtorhallen is breaking new ground. In their works, which were developed especially for this exhibition, the artists deal with their relationship to architecture in general and the Elbphilharmonie building in particular as well as the building’s relationship to people. They are at home in a wide variety of media, ranging from photography to large-scale installations and sculptures to film. Even though the building was the occasion and origin of the idea for the exhibition, the artists developed their works entirely independently of it.
For instance, the monumental, classical appearance of Candida Höfer’s photographs contrast with the picturesque and dystopian unrest in the works of Peter Buggenhout. A background in classic Minimal Art—a stylistic prerequisite for engaged art today—can be seen as a link between the works of Monika Bonvicini or Peter Buggenhout and the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron. A renunciation of individual expression is characteristic of all the selected artists, but the aesthetic of a critical approach cannot be overlooked in the wake of the politicized Context Art of the 1990s. These artists once again combine social analyses with a closeness to reality and the contemporary.
Thus, the exhibitionElbphilharmonie Revisited will encourage visitors to reflect on the wide-ranging discourse between architecture and fine art in a variety of ways and sensitize people to perceive the Elbphilharmonie in an entirely new light as a human, musical, and political realm.
An exhibition with works by Baltic Raw Org, Monica Bonvicini, Peter Buggenhout, Jean-Marc Bustamante, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Tacita Dean, Uli M. Fischer, Liam Gillick, Herzog & de Meuron, Candida Höfer, Sarah Morris, Tomás Saraceno
