Constructed Realities

The exhibition CONSTRUCTED REALITIES takes these ubiquitous questions as its point of departure and marks the first-ever joint exhibition of artist Isca Greenfield-Sanders and the artist duo Nix/Gerber. In distinct ways, both artistic approaches operate within the realms of photography and deal with representational claims of images as well as the technical manufacturing of those worlds.

Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber predominantly consider their work to be photographic, even though their work goes far beyond. They fabricate meticulously detailed miniature sets in their studio, often depicting abandoned dystopian scenes. By capturing those worlds through photography the scenographic miniatures finally articulate a claim to reality. The photographic images allow the tiny scenes to shift in scale and to be perceived on eye level.

Isca Greenfield-Sanders, in contrast, starts with found vernacular photography, often showing 1950s and 60s American domestic life. Operating between photography and painting, the artist starts by altering the images digitally and then translates them into dream-like, atmospheric scenes on canvases or within printing techniques. The resulting imagery oscillates between themes of perception, memory and image authority.

Especially since the dawn of photography, the potential construction of realities has led to predominant questions within art history. The work of Isca Greenfield-Sanders and Nix/Gerber emerged alongside the rise of the digital image and its international spread in the early 2000s — a time that could not foresee the ubiquity of AI. Nix/Gerber and Greenfield-Sanders oppose the ever-accelerating production of images with elaborate time-consuming processes which suggest fundamentally questioning the emergence and availability of images.