PHOTO: Abdulhamid Kircher-Rotting from Within

Through his photographic practice Abdulhamid Kircher examines possibilities for reconciliation, questions of identity and intimacy, impacts of patriarchy and violence. He was born in Berlin to German and Turkish parents, and immigrated with his mother to the United States at the age of eight. He received his BA in Culture and Media from The New Schoolin 2018 and his MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California San Diegoin 2022.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: carlier | gebauer Gallery Archive

“Rotting from Within” is Abdulhamid Kircher’s first presentation of the eponymously titled body of work and the first exhibition of the artist at carlier | gebauer. The title captures a feeling which the artist describes as “the unearthing of my father and the generational trauma that exists within the patriarchs of my family; subsequently the task of uncovering my own self amidst the things passed down”. The deeply personal aspect of Kircher’s practice is mirrored in his site-specific approach to the blank exhibition space of the white cube. These installations include photographs taken by the artist, as well as archival images and biographical artifacts. Kircher and his partner, Zoe Bullock, create each of the installations in reaction to the space, working on site with an inkjet printer, choosing to vary the format of the prints with each iteration of the installation, rearranging the prints on the exhibition walls. With this approach a constant flux emerges in the work, introducing fluidity in the seemingly fixed medium of photography. Kircher’s installation requires the artist’s hand, even though as photographs they could be potentially endlessly reproduced from afar. This present absence is a recurring theme in Kircher’s work, playing out on different levels and pulling the viewer into his own world. “Rotting from Within” refers to a feeling described by Abdulhamid Kircher upon the unearthing of his father’s history: the discovery of the generational trauma within the patriarchs of his family and the subsequent task of uncovering the artist’s self amongst the things passed down. Beginning at the age of seventeen with the reacquaintance of his estranged father, recently released from incarceration for selling drugs and attempted murder, Kircher’s self-led journey into photography coincided with a reflection on his past. Born in Berlin and fleeing to the USA at a young age, the camera provided an entry point for intimacy and familiarity with his father and his Turkish culture and heritage while fostering a deep relationship with the photographic medium and its possibilities. The exhibition weaves a deeply personal, autobiographical thread with photographic vigour and candidness as we penetrate deeper into the psychological questions of identity, the glorification of violence, the myths of masculinity and the veil through which photography provides a mechanism to cope and understand the world. Kircher’s threaded visual voice speaks at the intersection of an internal monologue and a nuanced approach to documentary; through complex assemblages of portraiture, observation, archival documents, diaries and more, Rotting from Within contains visual webs of association within which Kircher captures the tension between speculation and reality, the inherent unknowability of even those closest at hand, and how we do not get to choose the life into which we are born. “Rotting from Within” can be viewed as a family album in fragments, as proofs of evidence of an ambivalent relationship. A living archive, these works give shape to the relentless attempt to understand filiation and address its wounds and its core. They extend an invitation to grapple with reality as it is unfolding right in front of us while simultaneously being conscious of never coming to terms with what is there.

Photo: Abdulhamid Kircher, Untitled from the series “Rotting from Within”, 2014-2022, © Abdulhamid Kircher, Courtesy the artist and carlier | gebauer Gallery

Info: carlier | gebauer Gallery, Markgrafenstraße 67, Berlin, Germany, Duration: 29/6-31/8/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.carliergebauer.com/