LOVE [in] the CITY - Fotoausstellung zum 11. Hamburger Architektur Sommer und zum Fotosommer der 9. Triennale der Photographie

LOVE [in] the CITY

for the 11th Hamburg Architecture Summer and

the photo summer of the 9th Triennial of Photography

The development of the city from unusual perspectives.

Three photographic positions by Claas Möller & Peter Bruns, Gerald Chors and Michael Penner.

The exhibition in the xpon-art gallery is open until July 12.

Vernissage with the photographers on June 11, 2026 at 7 pm.

LOVE [in] the City is a photo exhibition of three positions of strolling photographers who document Hamburg's cityscape with unusual perspectives. Claas Möller and Peter Bruns, winners of the Georg Koppmann Prize for Hamburg City Photography, begin their new cycle Sehnsuchts und Glaubensorte (Places of Longing and Faith) and focus on Altenwerder. Gerald Chors documented the Hamburg cityscape of 1991 with the first photos of the Smileys von OZ and juxtaposes them with photos of the same places today. For years, Michael Penner has been photographing building plans and posters that conceal new buildings and show what is to become, but which develop a life of their own in the process, achieving an irritating state of suspension in his photographs that causes the familiar view to waver and describes the ambivalence of the development well.

Observations that go beyond snapshots, reflect processes and, without many words, reflect the love for and in the city.

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In addition to the classical great religious buildings of different eras, there are countless places where social phenomena manifest themselves - a multitude of religions in often unusual and unfamiliar places, and those that can be described as substitute religions. In their photographic search for architectural gems, utopias, curiosities and oddities, CLAAS MÖLLER and PETER BRUNS approach this phenomenon and extract visual parallels and breaks in order to reorganize and relate them. They begin, however, with a church that is the only one to remain in a place that Beuys already wanted to dedicate himself to because of its entire history.

During a walk 35 years ago, GERALD CHORS documented the first Smileys, which suddenly appeared everywhere in the city, on a single 35mm film. Only later was there a name for them: Walter Josef Fischer, then known as OZ. Today, opinions about graffiti are beginning to change in wider society, as shown by the success of the exhibition 'A City Becomes Colorful' at the Museum of Hamburg History, which included a representative image of the series in large format. While the mayor of Naples recently admitted that the many graffiti are an essential part of the city's identity, in Hamburg the smileys are still being removed at great expense. OZ spent much of his life in prison, although all he did was put a smile on the face of the city and "was always looking for love." The photographs were taken again after 35 years and juxtaposed. The result was surprising.

MICHAEL PENNER'sphotographs of the construction sites that are mostly covered up today are found views in public spaces that he has been photographing for over 10 years. On display are building plans and posters, the Potemkin villages of modernity, as he calls them. In this case, however, they do not show what is, but what will be, or rather, what should be. However, the mock-ups of utopias and promises develop a life of their own in public space and are often interrupted by reality. The motifs are irritating, the familiar view begins to waver, and even if they suggest it at first glance, these are not photo collages. A surreal state of suspension is achieved that captures the ambiguity of our cities and their development.

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Participating artists:

Claas Möller & Peter Bruns, Gerald Chors, Michael Penner

xpon-art gallery

Repsoldstraße 45, 20097 Hamburg

@xponartgallery | www.xpon-art.de

opening

Thu June 11, 7 pm

Opening hours:

Sat-Thu 6 - 9 pm

Finissage

Sun July 12 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

With the kind support of the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media