Thomas Kellner
You and Me
May 24 - June 17, 2018
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
participating artists: You & Me presents works by Lili Almog / USA, Marco Ambrosi / Italy, Max de Esteban / Spain, Diane Ducruet / France, April Gertler / Germany, Lorena Guillen Vaschetti / Argentina, Liu Lijie / China, Katarjina Majak / Poland, EJ Major / United Kingdom, Katharina Mouratidi / Germany, Wawi Navarozza / Philippines, Kitty Paranagua / Brazil, Diana Scherer / Netherlands, Daniel Schumann / Germany, Urszula Tarasiewicz / Poland, Rebecca Webb / United States, Qiu Zhen / China and Thomas Kellner / Germany
Opening 24.05.2018 at 7pm
Künstlerhaus Bethanien
Kottbusser Str. 10/D
DE 10999 Berlin
+49 30 6169030
presse@bethanien.de
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 2-7 pm
The creation of photographers :network is as much a credit to Thomas Kellner's generosity as it is to his inspired leadership. For the past ten years Thomas has introduced the work of invited colleagues to renowned curators from all over the world, provided an opportunity for the selected artists to meet at his studio in Germany, and maintained a directory of the works of colleagues and friends on his own professional website. In addition to creating his own brilliant photographic work, Thomas has made a huge contribution to the sense of community and the sharing of ideas in the photography community worldwide. Kathryn Dunlevie 2013-03-11
You & Me
In the exhibition You & Me at Künstler Haus Bethanien, May 25 to June 17, 2018, Thomas Kellner will be showing twenty works by artists with whom he has traded ten of his works over ten years. In this exhibition at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, “You” first means the other artist that he exhibits in his studio and with whom he may be exchanging a work. “You” is also the work of art that Kellner invites to his home to get to know it, just as the visitor of an exhibition is confronted with something new. “You” is the guest in the studio. “You” cannot exist without “Me”. Like Ying and Yang, You & Me are necessary complementary parts of a whole. #youtoo should stand next to #metoo for the artistic exploration of the human body. The image of the human body can not mean the alter ego for sexism. The image of the human being, of his face, of his character, of his physiognomy and sexuality is always a reflection of society. For example, in this exhibition, the focus is on images that show people. From the moral apostle to Satanism, from icons to self-portrait, injured and hurtful, biting and self-deprecating, here photographers draw a bow that defies not pornographic but the prudery of a sexism debate.
In contrast, Kellner's images of architecture are what make our world shake. Thomas Kellner asks in his pictures the question of our world view, which is determined by the renaissance central perspective to this day. Kellner dissolves the central focus point and makes another suggestion: Multiperspectively, broken down into many points of view, the parts combine to form a new whole that no longer proposes a static, but a synthetic, dynamic worldview.
Thomas Kellner sees himself not only as an artist, but also as a networker and connoisseur of the market in which he moves. Thomas Kellner lures with colleagues, with curators and journalists, but not to present his work, but often only those of his colleagues.
For many years he has been using his Siegen Studio as the hub of his global networks. With the aim to build a network among colleagues, to create mutual support and development as well as an ever-changing exchange among artists, he has been investing a lot of commitment in his projects for the last twenty years. The annual meetings, to which Kellner invites his colleagues from all over the world, have produced many a surprisingly fresh and extraordinary exhibition.
You & Me presents works by Lili Almog / USA, Marco Ambrosi / Italy, Max de Esteban / Spain, Diane Ducruet / France, April Gertler / Germany, Lorena Guillen Vaschetti / Argentina, Liu Lijie / China, Katarjina Majak / Poland, EJ Major / United Kingdom, Katharina Mouratidi / Germany, Wawi Navarozza / Philippines, Kitty Paranagua / Brazil, Diana Scherer / Netherlands, Daniel Schumann / Germany, Urszula Tarasiewicz / Poland, Rebecca Webb / United States, Qiu Zhen / China and Thomas Kellner / Germany
thank you to Christoph Tannert and the whole team at Bethanien for giving me such exposure in Berlin. Thank you to all participating artists for continued trust and support.
