Give and Take. Images upon Images

Give and Take illustrates processes of exchange and appropriation of pictorial material in contemporary photography based on a selection of twenty artistic positions. Images circulate and migrate these days across diverse geographical, cultural and social boundaries. One and the same photograph may appear in my­riad contexts, multiplying its impact exponentially. This makes it nearly impossi­ble to control all the meanings that may be assigned to images we release into the world. In this »give and take«, artists appropriate images from a variety of fields as they explore the mechanisms behind the production of realities and iden­tities. The material on view ranges from early picture archives, historical film foo­tage and museum collections to classic print media as well as digital images on social media and in image search engines. The artists respond in their photo­graphs, video works and installations to images that originated in another time or were developed for a different purpose, retrieving them in order to examine them in the light of the present day. The show features primarily works on loan that come from galleries or directly from the artists from America and Europe, supple­mented by exhibits from the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. As if in an archive, the main themes are organised into »folders«: archive & algorithm, profile & identity, fact & fiction, protest & dissemination and canon & violence.

The exhibition will be mounted on the upper floor of Gallery of Contemporary Art, whose open architecture will also offer a platform for other shows and events during the Triennial of Photography. The museum will thus become a place of exchange and constant image transfer and a forum for lively discussions on current developments.

A booklet (free of charge) covers texts about the artworks including images of all 20 positions as well as information about »Connect«, the accompanying program of events with artist talks, curatorial talks and a performance with a video- and soundinstallation on the outer platform of Hamburger Kunsthalle.

Featured artists: Viktoria Binschtok, Josephin Böttger, Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Irene Chabr, Sara Cwynar, Katharina Gaenssler, Mathilde ter Heijne, Sabine Hornig, Louise Lawler, Matthew Muir, Frida Orupabo, Max Pinckers, Walid Raad, Volker Renner, Sebastian Riemer, Martha Rosler, Evan Roth, Thomas Ruff, Taryn Simon and Johannes Wohnseifer.

Supported by: Freunde der Kunsthalle e.V., G. u. L. Powalla Bunny’s Stiftung, Böttcher-Stiftung, Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media

Cultural Partner: NDRkultur

Media Partner: Hamburger Abendblatt

Tickets