Portals and Layers
Clärchens Ballhaus #1–4
This series of photographs shows the Hall of Mirrors at Clärchens Ballhaus (Berlin), a dance hall that has been in continuous use since 1913.
These photographs date back to 2019 and are meant to be narrative. There is no single focal point and the eye is left to roam about the images: from glorious architectural detail in different stages of deterioration to glimpses of more recent decor, and from remnants of recent celebrations (burnt candles) and signs of occupancy (fresh flowers) to the anticipation of dances to come (laid out chairs and tables, mirror ball, modern sound system). These elements belonging to chronologically distinct layers of time are not singled out, but shown instead to co-exist as living traces of 20th and early 21st century socio-cultural history. The Hall has recently been refurbished.
4 pigment prints on Hahnnemuhle paper (60 x 80 cm)
EXHIBITIONS
— em em see see, 13–18 September 2022
The Courtyard Gallery, Ballroom Arts, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, UK
— Rencontres entre plasticiens – un aller-retour, June 2022
La Halle aux poissons, Le Havre, France
— Strata, online exhibition, June–July 2022
Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA