"Lucid Stillness: Photography by Candida Hofer" will be on exhibit from January 28th-March 15th on the 400 level of Avery Hall
Lucid Stillness:
Photography by Candida Hofer
There are moments when sheer symmetrical simplicity or series of diagonals trigger an Elysian response, or when a line of turquoise amid stone takes on an unexpected beauty: Candida Hofer`s lustrous photographs serve as reminders of those space/color-inspired experiences
Inspiration, as we know, can spring from design, from interior decor and feng shui, but also (and more magically) from the collusion of architecture and an outside force, like sunlight or pure and ordinary coincidence.
Interested in the physical and historical layers of public buildings like libraries, museums and academic institutions, places of research, contemplation and categorization, Hofer seeks to make visible a deeper understanding of the spaces she documents
Most of photographs are taken from a straight-on frontal angle (if slightly above), which nevertheless transforms the composition it records. Hofer often employs the delimitation of buildings or rooms as the frame for her image, revealing how in certain times of the day, with the aid of natural light, the interior layers come alive and are altered
It's as if her patient study releases the spaces intrinsic aura. Here Walter Benjamin's influence on German art is actively demonstrated by Hofer`s own obsessive documentation of systems and methods of classification. Classical in their orientation, the photographs stage the workings of formal perspective wherein the framework and contours of objects (including furniture and construction supports like beams, rafters and shelves) guide the viewer's eye to a vantage point of converging lines.
An Excerpt from Border Crossings 2001, Issue 77, Vol. 20, by Andrea Picard.
Special thanks to the Sonnabend Gallery for their generosity in loaning the material for this exhibition.
