PRESENTATION: Candida Höfer-Liechtenstein

Geographical references are an inherent part of Candida Höfer’s extensive œuvre. For more than 40 years, the artist has photographed the interiors of buildings, most accessible to the public, at times private ones as well, that are readily identifiable. Among them are museums, libraries, foyers, concert halls, bank archives, stages, and train station waiting rooms. Höfer’s interest is not in mere documentation; what drives her work is the differentiation of complex image subjects, the issue of light, and how spaces and architecture influence people.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein Artchive

Characteristic of Candida Höfer’s photographic oeuvre is an objective, sober visual idiom, a pronounced interest in structures and the ordering of space, and a remarkable attention to detail. To create her images, she makes use of available light at the various locations and spaces (not using any spotlights), which in many cases results in long exposure times. Höfer’s photographs are the opposite of snapshots: they are carefully planned and precisely executed. The subject matter speaks of human presence and influence, even if most of the spaces captured by the artist are deserted. Her latest works also testify to an increasing level of abstraction, in which color, surface and form and their dissolution gain in relevance. Candida Höfer has created a new series of works in Liechtenstein. It forms the starting point and the centrepiece of “Liechtenstein-In Dialogue with the Collections of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and the Hilti Art Foundation”, an exhibition conceived jointly by Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and the Hilti Art Foundation. Höfer shot the photographs in the autumn and winter of 2021 specifically for the exhibition. The series reflects the artist’s ongoing exploration of scenes of cultural life and architecture. In conjunction with selected works from classical modernism to the present, the result is a mutually enriching dialogue between Höfer and the collections of both institutions. This is the first exhibition to span all four skylight galleries of the Kunstmuseum and the three exhibition rooms of the Hilti Art Foundation, a total of around 1600 square metres. Höfer’s photographs are juxtaposed in an open dialogue with more than sixty artworks from the two collections. The artist’s works form the starting point for the selection made by the curatorial team: one particular work or group of images sets the theme for each of the seven exhibition spaces. This aspect is emphasised by the grey wall color. By allowing expansive, atmospheric associative fields, Höfer’s photographic oeuvre can engage in a dialogue with works from different genres from more than one hundred years of art. Conversely, the unfamiliar contexts allow visitors to experience the broad range of her photographs from a fresh perspective. For example, the visible particularities of body, surface and materiality in Höfer’s exterior photographs of the Kunstmuseum were the inspiration for the juxtaposition with works by Edith Dekyndt, Bill Bollinger and Gotthard Graubner. Characteristic of the museum building is a softly reflective, smooth but slightly wavy terrazzo façade created by means of an intensive polishing process. In the “color-space bodies”, as Gotthard Graubner refers to his painterly works, by way of an example, layers of paint and thin glazes create a “pulsating” colour on the ‘soft’ ground. In turn, Höfer’s photographs of the shipping crates, lifts or the luminous ceiling reveal exact geometric structures of the kind also observed in the works of Donald Judd, Verena Loewensberg and Piet Mondrian. On the upper floor of the Hilti Art Foundation, we see two photographs by the artist that depict almost square elements: the entrance door and the goods lift. In dialogue with three abstract paintings by Josef Albers, Höfer’s abstract composition becomes all the more evident.

Works by: Saâdane Afif, Josef Albers, Polly Apfelbaum, Joseph Beuys, Umberto Boccioni, Bill Bollinger, Nina Canell, Andreas Christen, Gianni Colombo, Edith Dekyndt, Latifa Echakhch, Luciano Fabro, Helmut Federle, Dan Flavin, Lucio Fontana, Günter Fruhtrunk, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Gotthard Graubner, Donald Judd, Kerstin Kartscher, Konrad Klapheck, Julije Knifer, Imi Knoebel, Anna Kołodziejska, Gary Kuehn, Fernand Léger, Barry Le Va, Verena Loewensberg, René Magritte, Kazimir Malevich, Rita McBride, Piet Mondrian, François Morellet, Charlotte Moth, Bruce Nauman, Giulio Paolini, Steven Parrino, Dan Peterman, Emilio Prini, Pamela Rosenkranz, Fred Sandback, Keith Sonnier, Yves Tanguy, André Thomkins, Rosemarie Trockel, Gilberto Zorio

Photo: Candida Höfer, HAF Kunstdepot Triesen I 2021, C-Print, 184 × 274 cm, © Candida Höfer, Cologne / 2022, Pro Litteris, Zurich

Info: Curators: Christiane Meyer-Stoll, Letizia Ragaglia and Uwe Wieczorek, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein with Hilti Art Foundation, Städtle 32, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, Duration: 30/9/2022-10/4/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun 10:00-17:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, https://kunstmuseum.li/