WAGNER + PARTNER Cai Wagner + Margret Uhrmeister Karl-Marx-Allee 87, 10243 Berlin Allemagne
The sparkle of the enclosures – The internationally renowned artist-photographer Raïssa Venables (1977- ) interprets in her new solo exhibition, embedded into the 4th European Month of Photography, different enclosed spaces in as yet unparalleled fashion. The exhibition takes the visitor on a journey through the magnificent Green Vault in Dresden, the Richard-Wagner-House in Bayreuth or the cool Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station in New York City. Each of these “enclosures” opens a hidden world.
Raïssa Venables has developed a distinctive style over the past years, which crosses the boundary into painting, and her pictures in this style are collected in important national and international museums. Her expert collage technique, which is colourful and creates depth, transforms existing architecture into an experience of the whole in a photographic impression. Three-dimensional spaces become physically transformed; a fourth, emotional dimension appears.
In the past years the American artist has focussed more and more on European architectural history. Here she presents mostly grand and prestigious buildings. After Italian churches she has recently been working mostly with the cultural treasures of Dresden. In her latest works she rekindles the founding spirit of many pieces of architecture. In this way the group of plants drenched in green in the work “Palmenhaus, Pillnitz” conveys once again the amazement about the first European green houses of the Mid-19th Century. The collector’s passion of August the Strong becomes tangible again in all its eccentricity, when Venables traverses the building photographically.
An extensive catalogue accompanies the exhibition, in cooperation with the BAT Campus gallery, Bayreuth, where further works, mainly created in Bayreuth, are presented at the same time.