REMAGEN.- With his seemingly painterly works, the artist Axel Hütte (*1951), who lives in Düsseldorf and Berlin, is one of the internationally important photographers of the present day. In Remagen-Rolandseck, his large-format photographs are on display in the exhibition "Axel Hütte. Silent Spaces". As a former student of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Axel Hütte is an important representative of the Düsseldorf School of Photography.
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The exhibition focuses on his large-scale photographs of mountains, glaciers and water which the artist himself describes as imagined landscapes. For his photographs, Axel Hütte travels to all continents. He waits patiently at carefully chosen locations before capturing an image with his plate camera. His unpopulated works lack any narratives. In some works, water surfaces, reflections, or fog transform into abstract structures that oscillate between sharpness and blur, inviting the viewer to meditative contemplation. This is also followed by four video works by Axel Hütte, which are being shown together for the first time. With their experimental design, electronic music and sound compositions, they open contemplative spaces.
The exhibition, planned in close collaboration with Axel Hütte, presents 36 works from 1997 to 2024. The architecture and design studio sauerbruch hutton has developed a color scheme for the exhibition at the Arp Museum.
As Professor Jürgen Hardeck, State Secretary, remarked at the exhibition's opening, "The Arp Museum, with Axel Hütte, is showcasing an outstanding photographer of contemporary international art. He transforms the sublimity of nature into a powerful image of our time, offering a counterweight to its challenges. The museum's spectacular architecture, with its breathtaking views of the Rhine landscape, provides an ideal setting for this exhibition."
Dr. Julia Wallner, Director of the Arp Museum, adds, "Hütte, an influential figure from the Düsseldorf Photo School, prioritizes nature in his work. He uses architecture, if at all, as simple structures. Before his lens, ideal landscapes emerge, often because they are devoid of people. Like a romantic painter, he imagines perspectives that stretch into infinity."
Curator Jutta Mattern explains, "Hütte's compositions engage the viewer's imagination and unconscious, without placing humans center stage. These multifaceted works are grounded in his objective perspective, precise compositional and technical skills, dramaturgical and staging insights, and his ability to make the atmospheric visible and tangible."
A diverse accompanying programme invites visitors to discover the exhibition together. In workshops in the Arp Lab, visitors can try out artistic techniques such as solar photography. On 27 April, the museum invites visitors to an artist talk with Axel Hütte and curator Jutta Mattern, followed by an aperitif.
The catalogue will be published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, with texts by Kirsty Bell, Julian Heynen, Jutta Mattern, Helene von Saldern and Julia Wallner.
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