10. January 2006: Los Angeles Gallery presents Thomas Kellner

Thomas Kellner: Tango Metropolis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THOMAS KELLNER – TANGO METROPOLIS

JANUARY 12 - FEBRUARY 25, 2006

Stephen Cohen Gallery announces the exhibition of "Tango Metropolis," a stimulating collection of Thomas Kellner's provocative photographic portraits of some of the world's most iconic tourist locations and architectural attractions. The exhibition will run from January 12 to February 25, 2006, and will open with a reception for the artist on January 12th from 7:00 - 9:00p.m.

In "Tango Metropolis," Kellner continues his work meticulously documenting highly recognizable public sites from the Flat Iron Building in New York City to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and the Red Palace of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. In his signature style, Kellner works precisely from top left to bottom right to shoot a single structure with an entire roll, or rolls, of film and then mounts the contact prints as one cohesive image with the number of chronological exposures—from 36 to 1,296—determining the physical size of the work itself. The result is a "photocollage" that reveres distinctive details even as it simultaneously deconstructs the building as a whole. Often, Kellner depicts recognizable buildings in a fractured form, as if jostled by an earthquake, while other images in "Tango Metropolis" are more fluid in their dislocating quality. Like shimmering reflections in a body of water, individual contact prints reverberate against each other, "dancing" with all the rhythm of a fierce tango. These images prompt the audience to wonder whether this building will collapse or right itself into the "permanent" structures that are part of the collective cultural consciousness. Kellner is a master at thoughtfully provoking us to consider not only the historical make-up of our societies as manifested in the structures many of us take for granted, but also the vulnerability of the contemporary world.

Born in Bonn, Germany in 1966, Kellner studied art and social sciences, and taught art at the high school level in Siegen, Germany, his current home. Kellner won Kodak Germany's award for young photographers in 1997 for a visionary landscape series he created using a pinhole camera which made 11 images on a single negative. Since that time, his experimental photographic collages of monuments and architectural icons, including Big Ben, the Tower of London, and the Eiffel Tower have brought him considerable international recognition.

Since 1987, in both solo and group shows, Kellner's work has appeared in galleries and museums throughout Europe, including Belgium, France, and Hungary, as well as Brazil and the U.S. His photographs belong to the collections of internationally prominent art museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Museum of Photography in Burghausen, Germany, and the Collection Schupmann, also in Germany.

"Tango Metropolis" will exhibit at the Stephen Cohen Gallery, located at 7358 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. In tandem with Thomas Kellner's images, an exhibition of Andy Lock's "Orchard Park" will take place in the Gallery Viewing Room. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and by appointment.

STEPHEN COHEN GALLERY, 7358 BEVERLY BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90036 TEL 323.937.5525 F: 323.937.5523

Press Contact:

Jeannine Schechter

T: (310) 482-3461

jeannine@freshpr.net