Jens Klein

Talking Archives

3. – 31. 12. 2020

Jens Klein’s conceptual work is characterized by a specific approach to archive and found materials. The Balloons series consist of 19 images together with meteorological information, and is part of a larger work that ingeniously “documents” the former border of the two German states. Altought one might think that the balloons had solely meteorological purpose, they actually transported small packages with political flyers, newspapers, and books from West Germany, and therefore they have been thoroughly monitored and photographed by employees of the State Security Service (Stasi). Without the previous context, however, these found photographs show their own absurd suggestive visuality.
In the second Jens Klein’s presented series, Applicants, he selected 176 portrait photographs of scholarship candidates from 1950 to 2012. In addition to a visual chronicle of German history, the project also describes the transformation of the photographic medium itself: from black and white to colour, from an analogue to a digital medium, from elaborate studio shots to quick photo-booth pictures.
Jens Klein (* 1970) studied or participated in residences in Jordan, Palestine, Israel or China in addition to the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. He has exhibited in major institutions in Europe and in the Middle East. He lives and works in Leipzig. www.jensklein.com

This exhibition is held in cooperation with the PHOTONEWS magazine from Hamburg and is specially supported by the Czech-German Future Fund.