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until 14.04. | #1100ARTatBerlin | Galerie Anna25 shows from 04th March 2017 the exhibition “Essenz” by the artist Thomas Nitz.
Painting or photography? A question that one would have to answer with Thomas Nitz with “as well as”. Thomas Nitz is sitting between the chairs: his photographs are not smooth motifs of high-gloss
magazines. In their haptics from tangible structures they are bound to the painting. Thomas Nitz photographs beyond editions his works are unique.
What is the value of a photographs which has a 1000 edition? Photographs are used in bulk editions for cheap carry-along items or by artificial limitation of the prints to exclusive collector’s items. Perhaps it is the longing for the unique, which makes the artist blur the borders.
Since 1992 he has been working as a freelance photographer at the UdK Berlin. He has been working on his special technique of multiple exposures for about 10 years. Before every photography, there is the processing of the underground, using pictorial means. Nitz takes watercolor boxes, which he primates with color and makes light with an emulsion. The manual process is the prerequisite of his works, because every carton is different and unpredictable of the result. How the background reacts in the development of the photos is controllable but only in the approach. That is exactly what makes the value of the photograph. The photographs cannot be repeated as desired and each trigger is different from the other.
The value of the unique and the uniqueness of the moment, goes hand in hand with the chosen motifs. The series “Kathedralen und Metropolis” shows shopping malls, cathedrals of consumption, the construction boom of the city, utopia and decline. Instead of political statements or documentary approaches, the artist is concerned with feelings. Thomas Nitz is not a document artist, but an agent of impressions. Sensual exaggeration and feelings when looking at it, that is what the photographer wants tocapture.
By overlaying the images with an analogue large-format camera and repeating this repeatedly, overlaps and structures are created. This flickering and scheming, which corresponds to the feeling while viewing, is to Thomas Nitz the essence of the motif and a production area for the viewer. One could call the photographs “Impressive Lichtmalerei”, with which their condensed overlays captivate the viewer.
Today, where images are reproduced infinitely, digitally edited and a thousand times divided, the desire for the genuine, unadulterated picture plays a role again. Hardly a tourist leaves Berlin without having made a picture at one of the photo booths. At weddings and events, instant cameras and photo booths are the hit. In times when everyone has a smartphone with a high-resolution camera in their pocket. Again, uniqueness and authenticity play a role. An instant camera, Thomas Nitz dedicates himself to a traditional street camera, the so-called “Afghan Box Camera”, which he himself has built.
Every Saturday from 3 to 6 pm the artist allows a look behind the scenes and portrays the visitor at the exhibition. The photos are developed directly on site as originals, during which the development process is the center of attention.
Vernissage: Friday, 03th March 2017, 07:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Exhibitionperiod: Saturday, 04th March – Friday, 14th April 2017
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Image caption: Thomas Nitz, Mall of Berlin # 1. 2016, analoge experimentelle Fotografie, 37 x 47 cm
Exhibitions Berlin Galleries: Thomas Nitz – Essenz – Galerie Anna25 – Kunst in Berlin ART at Berlin
