Angelika Platen has photographed more than five hundred artists in studios and galleries, at documenta exhibitions and biennials, during actions and self-dramatizations. As in those days, her camera gets close to the artists; her black-and-white photographs have made a lasting impression; as icons, some can no longer be separated from the person photographed. Forty years ago; Joseph Beuys is inspired by Auguste Rodin. Walter De Maria lays down on a takeoff runway . Sigmar Polke makes an aerial leap. Günther Uecker sits in the nail forest. Hanne Darboven, beautiful and young in years, takes a stand in front of her writing time wall. Forty years later: Hanne Darboven is marked by time. Jonathan Meese turns the big wheel. Julian Rosefeldt meets Peter Christ. Sylvie Fleury and Sophie Calle smile mysteriously.
With narrative and essayistic contributions, this book presents stages of a precise approach and a sympathetic dialogue.