Witterungen – Landschaften und Lebenswelten von Michael Collins

Michael Collins' "Seascapes" and industrial landscapes

The three artist's 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 a high-quality object character. Photographic series of works are presented that deal with the imperceptibly progressive change of landscapes and, along with it, of living environments. Laurenz Berges (*1966) concentrates on places, buildings and legacies in the industrialised Ruhr region and searches them for incidental signs and traces of past eras; Michael Collins (*1961) presents two almost identical, panoramic "seascapes", marshland shaped by wind and weather - industrial plants can be seen in the distance - as well as interiors and close-up views of steelworks and power stations; Paola De Pietri (*1960) has dedicated her series to imposing trees. In cool black and white, standing singularly in a wide landscape, each tree shows its individual ramifications and form. All three positions, which are brought together for the first time in this project, are united by a keen sense and a precise eye for both time-related and timeless reality(ies) - for facts, gradual transformations and the specific aesthetics that accompany them. Compositionally highly sophisticated, the photographs by Laurenz Berges, Michael Collins and Paola De Pietri sometimes hint at an unease that stems from the contradiction between urbanity and natural landscape and/or the ambivalent impression of "unused" areas that are either being reclaimed by nature or put to a new use by man.

Exhibition:
The Photographic Collection/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne; 2/3-8/7/2018