GALERIE VON&VON presents the artistic work of Berlin and Cannes-based photographer Angelika Platen for the first time in southern Germany in the unique solo show MEET YOUR ARTIST. From April 02 to June 05, the staged portrait photographs open the view beyond the artwork to the dazzling characters from Joseph Beuys to Andy Warhol.
Since the 1960s, Angelika Platen has demonstrated a keen sense for the big names of tomorrow. One year after her art studies in Hamburg in 1968, she photographed many of today's great artists for the first time. At art openings, she meets greats such as Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg and Gerhard Richter. She also worked as a photojournalist for DIE ZEIT before putting the camera aside at the end of the 1970s to work as a gallery owner and communications expert. At the end of the 90s, she resumes her artistic activities and focuses her camera primarily on the younger generation - with Neo Rauch, Miriam Vlaming and Michael Sailstorfer, among others. Here, too, she does not lose sight of the established and, with the younger photographs, shows an interesting view of the long-term development of the established positions.
The exhibition MEET YOUR ARTIST focuses on the portraits of the first creative phase. In combination with selected artworks of the portrayed, the visitor gains an unprecedented view of the artists' personalities. Here, Angelika Platen deliberately stages the artist with selected objects that are characteristic of the artist's work. For example, she shows the thoughtful side of Joseph Beuys, whom she places in the picture with a figure of Rodin. Or the young Jeff Koons, who looks up to the sky with a big grin in front of his own painting. In this way, she captures expressive traits of the artists in selected moments and opens up the possibility for the visitor to immerse himself in the fascinating cosmos of the artist, which normally remains hidden from the ordinary visitor.
Her works can be found in numerous museums and collections - including, for example, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf and the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
- Lisa Stopper (art historian)
Copyright of all photos: Angelika Platen