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until 25.02. | #3734ARTatBerlin | Galerie Kornfeld presents from 14 January 2023 the exhibition vi – ew with new works by the artist Hubertus Hamm.
With his art he creates something magical and alive. Under the umbrella term “vi – ew”, the exhibition brings together objects from twelve different groups of works. All of them are about the fleeting image.
A work of art can only come into being when it is looked at. People become part of their art by entering into an interaction between the objects and themselves.
In “Portrait XII”, Hubertus Hamm refers to the “Black Paintings”, which are black, abstract pictures painted by the artists of the New York School in the USA since the 1950s. Viewed from the side, Hubertus Hamm’s works look like a closed, dark, opaque surface. This opacity is lifted as soon as the square picture is viewed from the front. If you move from one side of the picture to the other, you will encounter different surfaces. These fragmentarily reflect the space and the viewer. One could feel this as if one’s own life cycle is being mirrored: One emerges from the darkness, sees oneself and dives back into the darkness. In this series, Hamm takes the mirror selfie ad absurdum, as the camera can only see and photograph itself.
In his Molded Mirror series, the reflections become blurred. With the reflecting metal panels, the artist counteracts his fascination with photography. Here, too, he becomes an unintentional director.
Without a viewer, there is no image – in contrast to a photograph, which always depicts something.
Hubertus Hamm began early on to explore the parameters of photography in order to sound out boundaries. He always understood his photographs as independent objects and not as images. By superimposing different layers, tearing, folding and bending the material, he entered into three-dimensionality with the image carrier. He uses metal, glass, ceramics or other materials that are alien to the species,
to enter the space.
Portrait IX is a frontal portrait of a woman. On the right side, Hubertus Hamm has scraped off the colour pigments so that the canvas is exposed. Like an afterimage that is created when you look into the sun and then close your eyes, the face continues shadowily on the white surface.
The scraped pigments are found as a small heap underneath the picture. There lies the scalpel that the artist used for his intervention.
Untitled, 2022, Dichroic glass, unique, 60 x 35 x 35 cm
In his works, Hubertus Hamm leaves the traditional paths of classical photography and often even renounces the medium in which he was once trained. By exploring and transgressing the boundaries of his medium in terms of three-dimensionality and materiality, he reflects in his works on the modalities of the image as well as of image-making.
His works have been exhibited at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich (CH), the Yuan Art Museum in Beijing, the SPSI Art Museum in Shanghai, Team One in Los Angeles, the Nir Altman Gallery in Munich and other renowned institutions and art fairs around the world. Currently, his works can be seen in the exhibition “Reflections” “at the Museum für Konkrete Kunst in Ingolstadt.
Vernissage: Saturday, 14 January 2023, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Exhibition: Saturday, 14 January – Saturday, 25 February 2023
To the galery
Caption Cover photo: vi-ew, Portrait No. XI, Molded No. 1, 2022, Metal, 116 x 116 cm, unique
Exhibition Hubertus Hamm – Galerie Kornfeld | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibition Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
