Foam Talent | Frankfurt

Featuring Sushant Chhabria (IN), David De Beyter (FR), Mark Dorf (US), Alinka Echeverría (MX), Weronika Gęsicka (PL), Wang Juyan (CN), Thomas Kuijpers (NL), Quentin Lacombe (FR), Clément Lambelet (CH), Namsa Leuba (CH/GN), Erik Madigan Heck (US), Alix Marie (FR/UK), Martin Errichiello (IT) & Filippo Menichetti (IT), Wang Nan (CN), Kai Oh (KR), Viacheslav Poliakov (PL), Ben Schonberger (US), Sadegh Souri (IR), Harit Srikhao (TH) and Vasantha Yogananthan (FR)

For the first time in Germany, the Frankfurter Kunstverein presents the internationally renowned, showcase exhibition Foam Talent in collaboration with Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam. The exhibition is considered one of the most innovative formats for discovering emerging trends in photography. Foam Talent | Frankfurt offers a unique look at current artistic trends. It functions as a barometer for a medium in a constant state of change in the digital age.

It presents 20 young artists in comprehensive ensembles of works. These ensembles sketch out the image of a generation characterized by questioning everything from individual to collective identities, the effects of territorial conflict, subcultural phenomena, and the realm of possibilities within photographic production. A number of artists make use of anthropological methods and undergo intensive, long-term research for their projects. Others start with found materials from historical archives, private collections, and the Internet, which they use as raw materials for their artistic investigations. Other artists’ methods are characterized by activist approaches and strategies drawn from investigative journalism.

Their works deal with social fates and cultural differences, the human body and its representation, political surveillance, and the power of religious myths. Numerous works question the camera’s objectivity, addressing the ambiguity of the photographic image. In the context of “real fake” photographs and the moving image, not only the medium but also the notion of representing reality itself becomes a point of critical, even skeptical, observation among anyone who has taken on the task of trying to represent it. The works brought together for the exhibition represent a renewed interest in the feedback of real conditions. They offer an inside view of subcultural phenomena, reflect on political implications and societal upheaval, and seek out the historical precedent for aspects of contemporary life. The 20 international artists have in common a search for the current limitations on and possibilities for expansion within photographic representation using available technical and digital means. They use found photographic material and reflect on archival content, they work with text and image as complementary elements, and they venture beyond the limits of traditional concepts of photography with sculptural installations and the incorporation of video works.

The show gathers 20 international photographers under the age of 35, selected from an applicant pool of 1,790 artist portfolios from 75 different countries by the Foam Amsterdam expert jury. Foam Talent’s format sketches an image of a young and international generation, characterizing the heterogeneity of the current state of photographic production and its preoccupations. A special issue of Foam Magazine accompanies the exhibition. Foam Talent was first shown in Amsterdam, followed by New York and London. It will now be exhibited in Frankfurt as the most comprehensive show to date in a specially designed presentation of all 20 artists.

The exhibition Foam Talent | Frankfurt is a collaboration with Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam. It is a partner project of the RAY 2018 Photography Triennial. Foam Talent | Frankfurt was made possible by the Dr. Marschner Stiftung. The exhibition received support from the Dutch Embassy in Berlin and Nordisk Büro, Frankfurt. Foam Talent program partners include the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and the Niemeijer Fonds.

Opening: Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 7pm as part of the photography triennial RAY 2018 at Zollamt (Domstr. 3) / as from 8pm at Frankfurter Kunstverein (Markt 44), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Press images of the exhibition are available for download on our website at www.fkv.de/de/presse

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