“Works in Process”
Photography by Jürgen Große
Opening on Thursday, October 1, 2020 from 6 -10 pm
2.10.2020 – 25.10.2020, Thursday to Sunday, 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.
Retramp Gallery
Reuterstrasse 62
12047 Berlin
info@retramp.com
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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.
