This Austrian–French exchange project, Pas de Deux, allows two galleries, the Fotogalerie Wien and the Galerie Vrais Rêves in Lyon, to celebrate their 40th anniversary and the fact that they are both the oldest photo galleries in their respective cities. The primary goal of both galleries with Pas de Deux is the presentation of conceptual art photography and the international cooperation with institutions. They are joined by decades of continuous information exchange, so there are a number of artists who have either exposed at or are represented by the two galleries.  Curators of the two galleries have each selected four artists in keeping with their representation parameters. Part 1 is a representation in the rooms of the Fotogalerie Wien while part 2 will be opened in the Galerie Vrais Rêves on 10 September 2022. Despite their many differences, the eight presented artists have a similar approach: they are showing conceptually developed works which have been made with the intention of opening up possibilities for new interpretations and perceptions using construction, staging and defamiliarisation. The Siegener artist's images of monuments, bridges and architectures such as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge are constructed. They have been assembled from successive frames of 35mm film whereby each frame is related to the next according to a pre-determined concept which deforms the architecture. A grid-based order is created – imaginary and fantastic but at the same time very aesthetic images.

Thomas Kellner, born in Bonn in 1966, studied art, sociology, politics and economics at the University of Siegen. In 1996, he received the Kodak Young Talent Award, which encouraged him to pursue a life as an artist. Since then, the fine art photographer has lived in Siegen as an artist and curator of photographic exposition projects. In 2003 he was elected to the German Society for Photography (DGPh). Since 2002, Thomas Kellner has shown his work in solo shows in Germany, Australia, Russia, China, France, Poland, Denmark, Brazil and the USA and has participated in numerous group shows and publications. His works are represented in important private and public collections.

Fotogalerie Wien is a non-profit organization organized as an association whose mission is to promote artistic photography. Its goal is to present contemporary art photography, interdisciplinary projects, and new media. It was founded in 1981 by Josef Wais, a team of seven artists working in with photography began a program in 1982. One essential aspect of their program is to support and present not only well-known international artists, but also young and emerging artists from both locally and abroad. This allows the sponsoring of an exchange culture with foreign galleries and institutions and it has become a fixture of our programming for years and enables an exchange of information, provides a platform for discussion, as well as the presentation of the works from our partners in other countries as well as the presentation of Austrian artists abroad.

Want to see more images from Pas de Deux and other? Go along here.

“The interesting thing about the buildings photographed by Kellner is that they are material and unreal at the same time.” Michalowska, M., Kontakt, Kellner, Thomas, 2014, Seltmann+Söhne, Berlin/Siegen, page 50

Pas de Deux
April 5 – May 7, 2022
Fotogalerie Wien

Participants: Philippe Calandre, Robert F. Hammerstiel, Thomas Kellner, Pascal Mirande, Simona Reisch, Bénédicte Reverchon, Lea Titz, Laura Wagner

Währinger Strasse 59/WUK
1090, Vienna
Austria

Opening Hours.
Tuesday to Friday 2–7 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 12–7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

T: +43 (0)1 40 85 462
fotogalerie-wien@wuk.at
www.fotogalerie-wien.at

Thank you to the whole team of Fotogalerie Wien and of Galerie Vrais Reves Lyon, and particularly Brigitte Konyen, Michael Michlmayr, Raymond Viallon and Rémy Mathieu for showing my photographic composition inside your gallery for the Pas de Deux show

Interested in more & regular information about Pas de Deux and other representation? Sign up for my Newsletter