Chargesheimer is not a photographer

It is vision that has defined the arts throughout history. Mastery of technique is, of course, required to reach the spiritual level of creativity, but more as a springboard than a crutch. Hockney, Christenberry, Penn, Michelangelo and Chargesheimer all used multiple mediums to render their ideas.
The photographic medium is tricky though. Where in painting and sculpture the artist has the luxury of time to contemplate the development of the artwork and it’s meaning, the photograph requires a sort of hyper-compression that happens at the moment when the photograph is taken. All of the consideration must occur at that very moment. Maybe photography is just deceptive, pretending to be a simple technique that all of us can take part in because our mobile phone allows us to. The sheer number of photographs out there are a witness to that very hypothesis. But a photograph is just a photograph.
Vision is a characteristic, a badge reserved for the artists, such as Chargesheimer.

- Julian Sander (from the Feroz Paper Vol.3)

Galerie Julian Sander is pleased to present a retrospective solo show of works by the German artist Karl-Heinz Hargesheimer who was known as Chargesheimer. Included are examples of Documentary Work, Portraits, rare Nudes, Experimental and Cameraless work as well as a Mechanized Light Drawing Machine called a Meditation Mill.

Chargesheimers work was daring, challenging and bold. His search for expression enabled him to expand his visual vocabulary beyond the singular medium of Photography. By the end of his life, Chargesheimer had worked in Theater, acted in a film, worked for major magazines, and of course created cameraless works that are the result of painting with chemicals on glass and/or photo paper. His oeuvre is complex. For this very reason, Galerie Julian Sander will present a broader look into the artists work.