STUTTGART.- Disorder is rarely as simple as chaos. It can be obvious and disruptive, but it can also remain hidden beneath surfaces that appear perfectly controlled. That tension lies at the heart of UNORDNUNG — DISORDER — the central exhibition of Fotosommer Stuttgart 2026, now on view at THE GLLERY at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart through September 13.
Bringing together works by 23 artists selected from more than 280 submissions, the exhibition looks at disorder not as a single condition but as something that can emerge in the environment, in cities, in society and in individual lives.
A five-member jury chose the participating artists, whose approaches range widely in subject and tone. Among them are Eckart Bartnik, Evi Blink, Martin Eberle, Gosbert Gottmann, Celia Joy Homann, Martin Janczek, Jonas Glanz & Leon Adam Haas, Markus Kaesler, Barbara Karsch-Chaeb, Matthias Kleinen, Oliver A. Krimmel, Leonie Lass, Anna Lehrer, Marcel Mayer, Ann-Kathrin Mller, Sabine Bungert & Stefan Dolfen, Eva Schmeckenbecher, Valerie Schmidt, Susanne Wegner, Valentin Wormbs and Wolfgang Zurborn.
The theme feels especially attuned to a moment in which systems once regarded as stable increasingly appear fragile. Some of the photographs address ruptures in ecological balance; others focus on small moments of unease or interruption in everyday urban life. Elsewhere, disorder takes on more serious forms, entering the intimate and social fabric of life through aging, illness, natural disasters, colonialism and war.
Yet the exhibition does not treat disorder only as catastrophe.
There are also playful approaches to the theme, suggesting that disruption can produce unexpected ways of seeing. Just as importantly, the show considers forms of instability that are not immediately visible. A scene may appear controlled or harmonious while something unsettled remains underneath.
That is where photography becomes especially useful. A photograph can record the unmistakable evidence of breakdown, but it can also draw attention to quieter disturbances that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The Staatsgalerie’s participation continues a collaboration begun in 2024, when it also made THE GLLERY available to Fotosommer Stuttgart for the festival’s principal exhibition. Founded in 2002, Fotosommer has developed into a broad citywide platform for photography, bringing exhibitions and events into galleries, universities, workshops and other spaces across Stuttgart.
During the festival’s core period, from July 18 to 26, more than 30 exhibitions explored this year’s theme around the city, alongside workshops, talks and conversations with participating photographers. The main exhibition at THE GLLERY continues well beyond those dates, giving visitors until September 13 to see the selected works.
THE GLLERY itself has become an important part of the Staatsgalerie’s photography program. Since 2022, the space has regularly presented works from the museum’s extensive photographic holdings, including many pieces that had never previously been shown to the public.
The venue has also become a platform for outside collaborations. Since 2023, the Wstenrot Foundation has presented prize-winning projects from its Documentary Photography Funding Awards there, while partnerships such as Fotosommer bring contemporary photographic practices into conversation with the museum’s collection.
The result is a space that moves between historical photography and the concerns of the present — an appropriate setting for an exhibition devoted to instability, disruption and the uncertain boundaries between order and disorder.
UNORDNUNG is on view at THE GLLERY – Space for Photography, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, through September 13, 2026.
