Sven Johne: Reports from the Crack of Dawn
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010
May 13 – July 25, 2010
Opening: May 12, 2010, 8 pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Steinernes Haus am Römerberg
Markt 44
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Sven Johne (born 1976 on Rügen) pursues a conceptual approach to documentary photography. Like an investigative reporter he explores various social phenomena, researches background information, visits the places relevant to his story, and embarks on a documentation of these sites. The result is photos, texts, videos, and archives, which raise questions in terms of their authenticity. Oftentimes it is the brief dispatches and sideline reports from local newspapers – on things such as suicides, ships lost at sea, or killing sprees – that prompt Sven Johne to go in search of further clues. Seen as if placed under a magnifying glass, extraordinary individual situations become exemplary portraits of the social status quo.
Johne’s serially structured works merge fiction with reality. Crucial is not the truth of the report but the story it tells in relation to the world. The elements of his works function either as apparent or real testimonies of personal fates that are in turn expressions or manifestations of the contemporary condition – in its social, economic, and political constellations.
CATALOGUE: On the occasion of the exhibition an extensive catalogue with texts by Werner D’Inka, Jens Kastner, and Catrin Lorch will be published by Frankfurter Kunstverein and distributed by Revolver Publishing by VVV, Berlin.
ARTIST EDITION: For members of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Sven Johne has produced an edition titled “Sunset”.
CURATED BY: Lilian Engelmann, Holger Kube Ventura
SPONSORS: The publication and the exhibition are supported by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach-Stiftung.
In the context of the DEUTSCHE BÖRSE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2010 the Frankfurter Kunstverein presents the four photographers Anna Fox, Zoe Leonard, Sophie Ristelhueber, and Donovan Wylie. The “Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010″ is an international prize for contemporary photography. It is awarded annually by The Photographers’ Gallery in London to an artist of any nationality who has made the most significant contribution (exhibition or publication) to photography in Europe in the previous year.
The works presented in this exhibition illustrate the diversity of contemporary photography and thus take into account various conceptual approaches and photographic methods. The impact of conflicts on landscape and architecture in Europe and the Middle East is shown in the works of this year’s prizewinner Sophie Ristelhueber. Anna Fox reveals a seemingly claustrophobic and often bizarre portrait of everyday British life in her photographic work. The subjects of Zoe Leonard’s photographs are urban architecture, understood as a sort of personal stock-taking that also functions as commentary on the medium of photography itself. Donovan Wylie deals with the history of post-conflict Nothern Ireland investigating for example its identity, history and territory through a systematic documentation of the infamous Maze prison.
CATALOGUE: A catalogue published by The Photographers’ Gallery accompanies the exhibition and includes contributions by Michael Bracewell, David Brittain, Mark Cousins, and Brion Fer as well as forewords by Reto Francioni (CEO, Deutsche Börse Group) and Brett Rogers (Director, The Photographers’ Gallery).
ORGANIZED BY: The Photographers’ Gallery, London in cooperation with the Frankfurter Kunstverein
CURATED BY: Stefanie Braun
SPONSOR: The Gruppe Deutsche Börse has been title sponsor of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize since 2005.
OPENING HOURS: Tuesday–Sunday, 11 am–7 pm
INFORMATION: www.fkv.de
PRESS CONTACT:
Julia Wittwer (Press officer), Christine Sturm (Assistant p.p.),
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Steinernes Haus am Römerberg
Markt 44, 60311 Frankfurt / Main
Germany
phone: +49.69.219314–30/-40
fax: +49.69.219314–11
e-mail: presse@fkv.de
