Witterungen – Landschaften und Lebenswelten von Laurenz Berges

Laurenz Berges’ abandoned settlements – The three artists’ leporellos published individually and in a slipcase on the occasion of the joint exhibition “Witterungen” by Laurenz Berges (Düsseldorf), Michael Collins (London) and Paola De Pietri (Reggio Emilia) have the character of high-quality objects. They present series of photographic works that engage with the imperceptibly advancing transformation of landscapes and, with it, of lived environments. Laurenz Berges (*1966) concentrates on places, buildings and remains in the industrially shaped Ruhr district and searches in them for incidental signs and traces of past eras; Michael Collins (*1961) presents two almost identical, panoramically conceived “seascapes,” marshland shaped by wind and weather – with industrial plants visible in the distance – as well as interiors and close-up views from steelworks and power stations; Paola De Pietri (*1960) has devoted her series to imposing trees. In cool black and white, standing singly in a wide landscape, each tree displays its own individual branching and form. All three positions, brought together for the first time in this project, share a feeling and a precise eye for realities both time-bound and timeless – for facts, gradual transformations and the specific aesthetic that goes with them. Highly refined in composition, the photographs of Laurenz Berges, Michael Collins and Paola De Pietri at times sound a note of unease arising from the contradiction between urbanity and natural landscape and/or from the ambivalent impression of “unused” areas, which are either reclaimed by nature or put to a new use by human beings.

Exhibition:
Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Köln, 2/3–8/7/2018