OPEN SPACE 3: WOLFGANG ZURBORN | Drift

Opening: Saturday, 14 February 2009, 7 p.m.

Exhibition: 18 February - 7 March 2009

Lecture: 28 February 2009, 8 p.m.
Marcus Schaden: »Focus on Photobook« with Booksigning by Wolfgang Zurborn

We at the Loris Gallery are pleased to present Drift, an exhibition of photographic work by guest photographer Wolfgang Zurborn from Cologne. 

Wolfgang Zurborn’s photographic observations of the world suggest that he has, in a manner of speaking, gone astray. The title of the cycle, Drift, seems to indicate as much: it hints at being – almost imperceptibly – off course. Making use of this deviation, the photographer enters into a photographic dialogue with the outside world, without feeling the need to give an account of its basic texture or composition. In his work, Zurborn broaches the subject of visual perception, which tends to become diverted and concentrate on what fascinates superficially rather than to deliver goal-oriented information. This course deviation is fully intended and applied successfully to the production of images. 

Zurborn’s photographs show the world in the form of clips. The view is frequently obstructed, and several layers correlated. Zurborn incorporates reflections, shadows and poster walls into his images. Two-dimensional surfaces break through a three-dimensional space, which in turn condense in photography into a single space. This is tantalizing as the photographic result defies simple decodification. In exploring visual surfaces, Zurborn applies the visual regularity of the camera angle in order to add further creative elements to the images, using a mix of focus and blur. As a result the image space is fragmented, with cuts and colour combinations bringing unexpected perspectives. The photographs challenge us to look more closely at their complexity. 

The Drift cycle expresses a search for a discerning visuality, one that links the remarkable with the inconspicuous, the spectacular with the insignificant. The resulting images test our perception of the world and the subsequent expectations we bring to the world of photography. In this sense Wolfgang Zurborn’s contention with the parameters of the visual is at the same time a request to resist rapid satisfaction with visible (image)surfaces and patiently engage with the individual layers of what we see. 

Short Biography
1956          born in Ludwigshafen / Rhein
1977-79     Bayerische Staatslehranstalt for Photography in Munich
1979-84     University of Applied Sciences Dortmund for Photography-/Filmdesign with Prof. Hans Meyer-Veden
1985          Otto Steinert - Preis of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie
since 1986  Co-owner of Galerie Lichtblick in Cologne
2003-07     Teaching position at the Technical University, Braunschweig
2005/06     Guest professor at the Art Academy Bremen
2005-08     Teaching position at the Art Academy Bremen

Solo Exhibitions (Selection)
2007        Drift, Third Lianzhou Photo Festival, China; Galerie Lichtblick, Köln; Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA; Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, USA
2006        Im Labyrinth der Zeichen, Meeting with the Middle East/ 9th International Photography Gathering /Aleppo, Syria; Drift, Hexgalleries, Heks, Belgium; dressur real,Kulturhaus Osterfeld, Pforzheim
2005        dressur real, Prospekto gallery, Vilnius, Litauen
2004        Terra Incognita, L’Usine Galerie, Brüssel; Rekonstruktion der Fotowände Neumarkt in Köln als Leuchtkästen
2003        dressur real, Galeria FF, Lodz, Polen; dressur real, Galerie Schulgasse 18, Eibelstadt bei Würzburg; Terra Incognita, Reger Forum, München

More information: www.wolfgangzurborn.de