“Works in Process” Photography by Jürgen Große

Opening on
Thursday, October 1, 2020 from 6 -10 pm
2.10.2020 – 25.10.2020 Thursdays to Sundays, 3 – 7 pm.

“Works in Process” at RETRAMP Gallery presents four photo series by the Berlin based urban photographer Jürgen Große from October 2 to October 25, 2020 on the occasion of the European Month of Photography 2020.
Curated by Katia Hermann and Verity Oberg. Graphic design by Akin Berlin

Berlin, located in the center of Europe, has been growing and changing faster than any other European city, especially since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Whether through new constructions or renovations: construction sites are a part of Berlin’s identity. The Berliner photographer Jürgen Große has been documenting the urban development of Berlin with his analog camera for over 30 years. Though not defined as architectural photography, Große’s work deals with architecture in its own terms, for example by capturing the optical changes during phases of construction. In addition, the photographer repeatedly deals with other random forms and structures of urban space, as well as with “found objects” on the street. All of his photographic motifs have a life of their own; they are structures of chance created by human hands, mostly unintentional forms that are constantly in flux, photographically captured by Große in a certain state and with a defined aesthetic.

His series of building facades captures dust nets, gauze and tarpaulins on the scaffolding and its own process of change which, among other less predictable things, is caused by both construction work and weather influences. “60 yellow castles” is the theme of ready-mades with an object character that Jürgen Große discovers on the street and on construction sites. Raised to a nobility, these objects are connected to selected places by a yellow padlock on street posts. Another series is dedicated to cultural advertising posters that are widely placarded in Berlin, multiplying on columns and pillars every hour and thus swelling in size until they can be considered sculptural objects, eventually removed by the city when they grow too large.
In addition, Jürgen Große has been photographing a beverage warehouse and the perpetually shifting arrangements of colourful crates on the banks of the Spree for several years. The constantly changing arrangement of the stacked boxes results in ever new color compositions.

An edition of the facade replica of the Schinkel Building Academy will be published for the exhibition. C-Print 30x45cm, section of the original tarpaulin 30x45cm, 45x60cm.

Jürgen Große,*1962, Berlin, urban photographer

• Born, raised and lives in Berlin, a city which has a big influence on his aesthetics
• Documenting unusual urban scenes for over 30 years
• Works with a small analog camera, catches urban landscapes and their evolution
• Motifs are mainly snapshots of unauthorised and accidental structures
• Photography that stops being a document and becomes an autonomous artistic work
• Passion for Graffiti and Urban Art since the 1990s, Große opens Urban Art Info Gallery in 2001, publication of the photo book “Urban Art Photography” in 2008.

urban-art.info
urban-photo.berlin