Les Euronautes – Groupshow
Stéphane Couturier, Camilla Douraghy, Ralf Peters, Benyamin Reich
The Other Europe is the theme for The 6th European Month of Photography Berlin in 2014. Our exhibition presents four photographers searching for Europe’s intrinsic identity.
The 21st century with its open borders and world wide connectivity is putting the old structures of an already heterogeneous Europe into question. Is there, or was there ever a united European idea? Is there such a thing as a European identity? Who today is actually European?
None of the artists in the exhibition explicitly address these topics, yet the question of a possible European identity can be perceived in all works featured in the exhibition.
As part of the 6th European Month of Photography Berlin, Galerie Kornfeld presents the exhibition Les Euronautes, on view from 16 October to 15 November 2014.
Upheavals and Utopias. The Other Europe is the overarching theme of the 6th European Month of Photography Berlin. This exhibition brings together four photographers who explore questions surrounding Europe’s intrinsic identity.
In the 21st century, with its open borders and global connectivity, long-established structures of an already heterogeneous Europe are being challenged. Is there—or was there ever—a unified European idea? Does a European identity exist? Who can be considered European today? While none of the artists address these questions explicitly, the issue of European identity resonates throughout the works presented.
In Stéphane Couturier’s formally striking photographs of antique sculptures housed in the Gläsernes Depot of the Dresden Albertinum, the classical ideal of the naked human body becomes evident. While Couturier’s work pays homage to Greek and Roman antiquity as the cradle of European culture, Camilla Douraghy, a Swiss artist of Persian origin, reinterprets classical poses and motifs by staging male and female nudes of varying skin tones as living sculptures.
The series Different Persons by Ralf Peters questions our perception of individuality. Although the women portrayed are unrelated, their typically Northern European faces appear astonishingly similar—an effect heightened by Peters’ use of the passport photograph format.
The works of Benyamin Reich, an Israeli artist of European heritage, reflect how Jewish traditions continue to exist within Europe, while also conveying an outsider’s view of Europe as a continent of forests and swamps, snow and rivers.
Stéphane Couturier
b. 1957, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Exhibited internationally, including recent shows at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (Paris) and MUCEM, Musée d’Art Contemporain (Marseille). His works are held in major public and private collections such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), National Gallery (Washington, D.C.) and the Israel Museum (Jerusalem).
Camilla Douraghy
b. Tehran, Iran
Studied at UCLA (Los Angeles). Solo and group exhibitions in Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York.
Ralf Peters
b. 1960, Lüneburg, Germany
Studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Numerous solo and group exhibitions, including Unscharf – Nach Gerhard Richter at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Works held in major collections such as Lenbachhaus (Munich), Deutsche Bank Collection and UBS Bank (Zurich and Milan).
Benyamin Reich
b. 1976, Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel
Studied in Israel and Paris (École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts). Exhibited at institutions including the Haifa Museum of Art and the Jewish Museum Berlin.
