19 May 2014

Among the high-flying alumni of the Düsseldorf School, Axel Hütte is the one who more than any other has focused his research on the pristine wilderness, investigating the forms of remote glaciers, mountain chains, caves or bodies of water in a career that spans three decades. In his pictures, the natural walls of the Earth’s surface are explored with the same fascination that the photographer from Essen has devoted to the great cities of America shrouded in night, distinct realities whose confines are lost in the very atmosphere that cloaks them. His first Italian solo exhibition in sixteen years, staged by the Fondazione Fotografia Modena, presents works taken from four series dedicated to the natural world—Glaciers (1997‐2002), Water Reflections (1998‐2007) and Caves (2008)—and some images from his most recent series New Mountains (2011‐13), never previously shown. Hütte’s pictures, details of a much larger whole, do not seek the omnipotence of Andreas Gursky’s scenes, revealing instead the threshold beyond which the eye can only conjure up things, the boundary between the contemplation and the imagination of the landscape.

Axel Hütte, Fantasmi e realtà
Foro Boario, Fondazione Fotografia Modena
A cura di Filippo Maggia
Modena
12 aprile – 29 giugno 2014

Axel Hütte, Rio Negro‐4, Brasile. Dalla serie Water Reflections, 1998. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Underworld‐3, USA. Dalla serie Caves, 2008. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Portrait#19, Germania. Dalla serie Water Reflections, 2004. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Portrait#26, Germania. Dalla serie Water Reflections, 2007. © Axel Hütte

Axel Hütte, Fanano, Italia. Dalla serie New Mountains, 2013. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Passo Sella, Italia. Dalla serie New Mountains, 2012. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Totenkopf, Austria. Dalla serie New Mountains, 2011. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Sonogno, Svizzera. Dalla serie New Mountains, 2013. © Axel Hütte.

Axel Hütte, Glaciers des Bossons, Francia. Dalla serie Glaciers, 1997. © Axel Hütte.