Christophe Von Hohenberg, Lone Surfer Checking Out the Sets, 2020
Looking is a three-person exhibition of works by painter Rainer Andreesen, photographer Christophe von Hohenberg and sculptor Oscar Molina. Their different ways of looking and interpreting what they observe. The exhibition is curated by Lana Jokel and is on view from July 11th - August 7th.
Artist’s Statement: Portraits and Seascapes
"For over forty years, I have sought to capture a reality that does not simply document what is seen, but reveals what is felt. Through my lens, most of my figures appear bleached by the sun, isolated against vast expanses of sand, water and sky. In that overwhelming light, forms dissolve, I was blinded by it, and in that blindness, I began to see differently...
I walk the shoreline for hours waiting like a predator with a camera. I wait for the unrepeatable moment - when presence, light, and gesture align. My work is not about the seaside alone, but about the spirit that inhabits it. Photographing seascapes for me is a form of portraiture. The sea becomes a psychological space. The solitary figure becomes a mirror.
This philosophy extends into my portrait practice. I observe the sitter as one who shifts and adapts - like a chameleon responding to its environment. In these encounters, I move from naturalistic observation towards participant observation. I am both witness and participant. By uniting seascapes and portrait, I bring together two modes of seeing: The external and the internal, distance and intimacy, objectivity and subjectivity. These opposing forces form a syzygy — a union of opposites.
This body of work explores the meeting point between external vastness and internal depth, where landscape becomes emotional and portraits become reflection."