Elger Esser: Nachsommer

In the organizer's words:

The exhibition "Nachsommer" is Elger Esser's sixth solo exhibition at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle. As is so often the case with the photographic artist, who is known for his atmospheric landscape images, the title alludes to a standard work of 19th century literature. In this case, it refers to "Der Nachsommer" by Adalbert Stifter from 1857, in which the perception of art plays a central role. At the same time, the title conveys a clear mood of the vegetation and light atmosphere of late summer and early fall in Central Europe, where the works in the exhibition were created. In the 13 or so photographic works, taken in various French coastal regions and river basins, time stands perceptibly still, so harmoniously and devotedly do water, land and sky meet in these pictures.

Remote places such as Ètang de Peyriac, Saint Ceneri en Gerai or Mont-Saint-Michel are depicted here, sometimes only recognizable by ruins. What unites all the photographic works is the deserted, yet culturally marked landscape. Esser precisely coordinates the proportions of the sky spectacles and reflections in the water in relation to the special features of the landscape in his pictorial invention and, in these perfectly composed works, evidently presents us with the beauty of nature in its purest form. In the deeper perception, all the theoretical questions of photography are illuminated, the proximity to painting, the history of photography, the theme of time and the philosophical question of duration, in the sense of Henri Bergson.

In recent years, Elger Esser has developed a photographic printing technique for the analog photographs of such picturesque places, which is reminiscent of early photographs from the 19th century, but is very contemporary thanks to the machine pigment printing process on a silver-plated copper plate. Due to the rough, shimmering surface, which is also covered with Shellac, these works almost look like paintings. Thanks to the color-protecting technique, the photographic works can be framed without glass, which enhances their old-masterly character all the more.

Elger Esser (*1967 in Stuttgart) grew up in Rome. He returned to Germany to study in Bernd and Hilla Becher's famous class at the Düsseldorf Art Academy (1991 - 1997), where he still lives and works today. He belongs to the second generation of the so-called Düsseldorf Becher School. His works have long been part of renowned international collections, including the Center Georges Pompidou Paris, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Museo Jumex in Mexico City and Lenbachhaus Munich. The Haus Beda of the Neue Galerie in Bitburg is currently dedicating a solo exhibition to him. His photographs from Mont-Saint-Michel were on display at L'Abbaye de Mont-Saint-Michel itself in the first half of 2024.