Sebastiaan Sitting by Fran Forman
The municipality of Gauting (Munich Metropolitan Area) is pleased to announce the Gauting International Photo Summer 2024 from June, 1 to September 1, 2024. Visitors are cordially invited to enjoy three extraordinary exhibitions in the open air in the idyllic town hall garden. Impressive photographic works await you, inviting you to linger, admire and reflect. Admission to this cultural event is free.
Better Days: Seunggu Kim / KR | June 2024 | 1.6. - 29.6.2024
Opening: Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11 a.m.
Seunggu Kim's work has been celebrated both nationally and internationally, with works in prestigious collections including Museum Hanmi, Korea, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Korea, Museum Center Ploshchad Mira, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, US, KT&G Sangsangmadang, Korea, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Korea, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Korea, GoEun Photo Museum, Korea and Dong-gang Photo Museum, Korea. Numerous media have reported on Seunggu Kim's works, including the New York Times, CNN and the Financial Times.
Seunggu Kim's "Better Days" is not just a series of photographs; it is a narrative journey into the heart of South Korean society. The series skillfully documents contemporary life, where the pursuit of happiness meets the reality of societal expectations. Through vivid images that juxtapose urban landscapes with moments of leisure, Kim reflects on the concept of leisure and recreational spaces in South Korea. "Better Days" delves into the intricacies of how urban spaces are used for brief escapes from busy city life, revealing the artist's reflections on finding balance and harmony in a fast-paced society.
"Better Days" offers a deep insight into contemporary life in South Korea, as seen through the eyes of one of its most innovative photographers. The exhibition not only showcases the artist's outstanding skills in documentary photography, but also reflects on social developments and the common aspiration for a better life in cities. It encourages reflection and exchange on topics such as community spirit, identity and the pursuit of happiness.
The Color of Absence: Fran Forman / USA | July 2024 | 30.6. - 3.8.2024
Opening: Sunday, 30 June 2024, 11 a.m.
Fran Forman has received major prizes and awards for her work. Her photographic paintings are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM, Washington, DC), the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Grace Museum in Abilene, the Sunnhordland Museum in Norway, the Conner Collection at the University of Texas and the North Down Museum in Northern Ireland.
"The Color of Absence" uses fantastic images to illuminate the theme of absence, which manifests itself in many contradictory forms - longing despite closeness, loneliness within the sunny illusion of domestic tranquility, shadows on a sunny day and realism paired with illusion. In her series, Fran Forman combines and manipulates, alters and fuses photographs with painting, reality with fiction - whatever it takes to tell the story. Each image is carefully constructed digitally over many weeks by assembling and mounting (usually non-professional) models, costumes, figures, objects and backdrops like a stage set. Shadows and light, often constructed digitally, become the main actors in the picture.
Selfhood: Vicky Martin / UK | August 2024 | 4.8. - 1.9.2024
Opening: Sunday, August 4, 2024, 11 a.m.
Vicky Martin, an award-winning photographer from the UK, is known for her conceptual portraits that blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality and foreground the female experience. Her work offers insights into the complex and nuanced facets of femininity through the recurring motif of hidden eyes.
The photo series depicts the female search for an independent identity communicated through outward appearance, clothing and posture, challenging the common practice of judging a person's character through eye contact. Each image tells its own story, linked by the common motif of covered eyes, and offers insights into the multi-layered and nuanced aspects of femininity. "Selfhood" uses elements of fantasy and allusions to traditional fairy tale characters as well as modern heroines to represent the range of female experiences and identities. From Snow White to Sleeping Beauty, from Alice to Little Red Riding Hood, to more modern characters such as Offred, the series pays tribute to these strong yet vulnerable female personalities. By hiding her eyes, the traditional symbol of soul and identity, Vicky Martin reveals the inner conflict between a woman's own femininity and the stereotypical expectations of society.
Curator Michael Nguyen is a Gauting-based photographic artist, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online photography magazine tagree.de, has been appointed as curator for the event. In 2021, he was awarded the Günther Klinge Culture Prize by the municipality of Gauting for his outstanding achievements in photography. Michael Nguyen was a member of the jury for the URBAN Press Award 2023 alongside Magnum photographers Alec Soth and Jerome Sessini.
