Running until 1st June, 2019Robert Capa's falling soldier in the Spanish Civil War, Henri Cartier-Bresson's picture of a man at Gare Saint-Lazare leaping over a puddle, Man Ray's surrealistic violin woman, Nosferatus shadow from FW Murnau's silent film classic, the first human footprint on the lunar surface, the World Trade Center in flames - we all know them, these symbolic scenes and iconic images that have burned into our collective memory. They are among the most important and arguably most discussed images in the history of film and photography.
The artist duo
Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger have been reconstructing these iconic images in detail since 2012 in their long-term project as three-dimensional dioramas, models in miniature, which they photographed together with all the utensils and materials; cardboard, plaster, glue, cotton wool and sand - remaking them again as a photographic image. A meticulous bricolage and sculptural performance by the artists, who always ask questions: is that real? Or a surrogate?
Their photographs are equally fascinating and irritating not only through the perfection and bold staging of these almost identically replicated images, but Cortis and Sonderegger also humorously reveal the pictorial illusion by incorporating the studio situation into their photographs. The shots are a subtle play between photographic truth and manipulation.
At a time when we are discussing the authenticity of images as well as alternative and false facts, the work of Cortis and Sonderegger challenges us to verify the truth of photography. But these icons are also an ironically entertaining reflection on photography as a medium that asserts reality, but is a product of media mediation. Sensitizing the senses and sharpening the vision: this is how Cortis and Sonderegger understand their artistic mission.
The exhibition Cortis & Sonderegger 'Double Take' was created in cooperation with
C / O Berlin with the
Fotostiftung Schweiz. The publication of the same name was published by
Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich (German) and
Thames & Hudson (English) and accompanies the show.
Jojakim Cortis (* 1978, Aachen, Germany) is a freelance photographer and lecturer. Cortis lives and works since 2001 in Zurich. In 2006 he completed his studies of photography at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), where he also begins his collaboration with Adrian Sonderegger and since 2009 teaches as a technical assistant and lecturer.
Adrian Sonderegger (* 1980, Bülach, Switzerland) is a freelance photographer and lecturer. Sonderegger has been living and working in Zurich since 2001. Together with Jojakim Cortis, he studied photography at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). From 2007 to 2011 he worked as an assistant to the artist Jules Spinatsch. Cortis & Sonderegger's works have been exhibited worldwide at festivals and in museums. They teach together at various art schools.
Exhibition runs from 15 March - 1 June 2019
Cortis & Sonderegger are represented by East WingSee more about their past exhibitions and images on their website
The above text taken from C/O Berlin exhibition announcement
