Oliver Krebs
"Signal & Rauschen"

Exhibition: 22 – 28 November, 2018
Opening: Thursday, 22 November, 7pm

Exhibition in the frame of the book launch "Oliver Krebs – Singal & Rauschen", Kehrer Verlag

The picture is first of all a visual event, and the realm between perception and recognition leaves plenty of room for our own projections. The Berlin-based artist Oliver Krebs dedicates himself to exploring these projections. In Signal & Noise, he shares his work with us. His pictorial approach is concerned with the search for hidden aspects beyond appearances, for verities behind the likeness. In this respect, Oliver Krebs regards his creative practice as artistic research.

The specific characteristics of the photographic image form the basis for his works. It is conspicuous how our view of the motifs in the pictures is disturbed. Whereby "disturbed" is not really the right word here. Rather, the ostensible disturbances – reflections, shadows, and light reflexes – are the actual subject. The quintessence of the images lies in the intrinsic visual value of these phenomena. The photographs are conceived in terms of visual impact. This interplay is what makes this type of street photography so unique.

In this way, Oliver Krebs unfurls perceptual spaces that break with the usual narrative strategy of photography. The images instead create an associative space in which they stand only for themselves. Their self-representation divulges secrets that go beyond them and are revealed in the photograph. This makes them decidedly contemporary photographs.

Oliver Krebs studied painting with Per Kirkeby at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main and graduated as a master student in Georg Herold’s sculpture class. His path to photography was therefore not necessarily predetermined. But his career reveals an artist’s way of thinking. Oliver Krebs seeks the imaging medium for his artistic investigations in art: In photography, he investigates the simple yet almost unanswerable question of what makes a picture a picture and what role the individual image elements play. Since 1994 he is also working as a producer in advertising, cinema and TV productions. From 2003 to 2005 he taught at the FH Darmstadt in the media department. Oliver Krebs now lives and works in Berlin.

Oliver Krebs
"Signal & Rauschen"

Ausstellung: 22. bis 28. November 2018
Eröffnung: Donnerstag, 22. November, 19 Uhr

Die Ausstellung findet anlässlich der Buchveröffentlichung "Oliver Krebs – Singal und Rauschen" im Kehrer Verlag statt.

Book Talk: Samstag, 24. November, 19 Uhr
Berlin, Kehrer Galerie, Potsdamer Str. 100

Oliver Krebs ist einer der wenigen Vertreter der Street Photography, den man gleichermaßen subjektiv und konzeptuell nennen kann. In Signal & Noise (Signal & Rauschen) manifestiert sich sein Ringen um das fotografische Bild jenseits des zentrierten Blickes. Dabei denkt er – von der Malerei her kommend – das Bild als solches neu. Wenn das Motiv das "Signal" ist, dann interessiert den in Berlin lebenden Fotografen das "Rauschen", welches dieses Signal überlagert. Seine Bilder scheinen sich immer wieder selbst aufzulösen, Bildebenen werden ineinander verflochten und der Betrachter wird schließlich zu einer neuen Form der Fotografie geführt.

Oliver Krebs sucht, ja forscht nach Bildern: So ist es schlüssig, dass er seinen Fotografien Text- fragmente der großen Entdecker des 19. Jahrhunderts zur Seite stellt. Ein Dialog, in dem wir viel über unser Suchen und Sehen erfahren können.