Frozen Mirrors

Welcome: Monika Schnetkamp, Chairwoman Arthena Foundation
Introduction: Ludwig Seyfarth, Curator of the exhibition

Michael Wesely in conversation with Barbara Hofmann-Johnson, Director of the Museum of Photography, Braunschweig, moderated by Ludwig Seyfarth

Michael Wesely is known for his long exposure photographs. Changes in urban space - especially in Berlin, where he has lived for a long time - are one of his central motifs. His specially developed cameras remain in one place for up to three years. The construction of new buildings on Potsdamer Platz, for example, is captured as if in fast motion. In his new complex of works, Doubleday (2023), he works with a normal short exposure time, but two images are superimposed on each other. The artist captures places in Berlin from exactly the same perspective as they appear in old black and white photographs. In conversation with Barbara Hofmann-Johnson, Michael Wesely explains his approach and how the artistic and the documentary are combined in his work. 

Karin Kneffel and René Wirths in conversation with Ludwig Seyfarth

The painter Maurice Denis remarked in 1890 that before a painting depicts a warhorse, a naked body or an anecdote, it is essentially a surface covered in colour. This statement was programmatic for the departure of modern painting from the illusionistic reproduction of reality. However, beyond the avant-garde trench warfare over abstraction and representationalism, Denis' comment also contains generalities. Everything that is to be seen in a painted picture must first be solved as a problem of painting. In conversation, Karin Kneffel and René Wirths provide an insight into their working processes and explain how the results, which can be seen in the exhibition Frozen Mirrors, are achieved.

Saskia Groneberg in conversation with Thomas Seelig, Head of the Photography Department at the Museum Folkwang, Essen

Saskia Groneberg’s photographic expeditions take us to local offices and parks across the world. The central theme is always the relationship between humans and nature. Groneberg’s particular focus is on artificially fashioned nature, which she sees as ultimately founded on the longing for nature itself and the fear of whatever lies beyond our control. In conversation with Thomas Seelig, the multi-award-winning artist talks about her search for subjects, which she initially has been circling around for a long time, and about the relationship between books and exhibition as presentation media. Also discussed will be the question of whether and to what extent artificially designed nature is a mirror of human nature.

The artists Lilla von Puttkamer and Vera Lossau in conversation with Ludwig Seyfarth

What is the reality of art, especially for women, in Cambodia? Lilla von Puttkamer (Berlin) and Vera Lossau (Düsseldorf) wanted to find out. They travelled to the country several times and initiated an intensive exchange with local women artists in cooperation with the Goethe Centre. In addition to a publication, this resulted in several joint exhibitions in Cambodia and Germany; this year, another exhibition will follow at Schloss Biesdorf in Berlin.

The two artists report on the not always easy realisation of these projects, present the works shown there and the actions carried out. They will also provide information about the network of female artists they co-founded, which is growing year after year. The networking and exchange with female artists in many other countries influences their own artistic work. This will be demonstrated using specific examples, including Lilla von Puttkamer's contribution to the exhibition Frozen Mirrors.

Panel with participants in the publication Illusions. Contemporary Art Between Fiction and Reality

Dr Belinda Grace Gardner, art historian, Hamburg
Dr Jacob Birken, cultural and media scientist, Düsseldorf/Cologne
Delia Keller, GESTALTUNG BERLIN, designer of the publication
Ludwig Seyfarth, curator of the exhibitions

KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION is delighted to present the new publication Illusions. Contemporary Art Between Fiction and Reality. It documents the three exhibitions Phantoms and Other Illusions; Bodies, Grids and Ecstasy and Frozen Mirrors shown at KAI 10 and illuminates different facets of the theme of illusion in contemporary art. In addition to illusionistic imitation through to trompe-l'oeil, the play with naturalness and artificiality, and the fictionalisation of spatial experiences, the psychological and political levels of meaning of the concept of illusion are up for debate. The significance of digital simulation techniques and AI programmes for contemporary image production will also be examined.

In conversation with Ludwig Seyfarth, Belinda Grace Gardner and Jacob Birken discuss the theses of their catalogue essays and Delia Keller explains the path from the development of a key visual for the respective exhibition to the overall concept of the publication.