The Moment is Eternity Works from the Olbricht Collection

Fri, 28 Sep 2018 13:00

On view
26 Sep 2018-1 Apr 2019

The Moment is Eternity Works from the Olbricht Collection

The artist Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the term ‘the decisive moment’, a fleeting moment to which the camera lends permanence and captures the essence of a situation, person, or place. In photographic form, this captured moment in the flow of time is marked simultaneously by a sense of transience and timelessness. For us, the moment is the only perceptible slice of eternity –   for as Goethe wrote: ‘the moment is eternity’ (Der Augenblick ist Ewigkeit).  Against this backdrop, the exhibition explores such themes as beauty and sensuality, growth and the passage through life, the body and society. These transcend all epochs and media and reveal the essence of the human condition over centuries. The sheer breadth of the Olbricht Collection offers an array of perspectives on these themes, ranging from Albrecht Dürer to historical X-ray photographs, from August Sander’s typologies to Cindy Sherman’s fictional self-portraits.  Guest curator: Annette Kicken (Galerie Kicken Berlin) With works by: Diane Arbus, Brassai, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Larry Clark, Rineke Dijkstra, Albrecht Dürer, William Eggleston, Ed van der Elsken, Lee Friedlander, André Gelpke, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Carl Robert Kummer, Nicholas Nixon, Press Photography, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, August Sander, Cindy Sherman, Giorgio Sommer, Otto Steinert, Wolfgang Tillmans, Vernacular Photography, Wunderkammerobjekte, and others  
Ed van der Elsken, Parijs, Pierre et Paulette, 1955, Nederlands Fotomuseum ©Ed van der Elsken, Courtesy Galerie Kicken Berlin