Bernd & Hilla Becher »
Imprimes (1964-2010)
Exhibition: 9 Oct 2010 – 16 Jan 2011
Musée de l'Elysée
18 avenue de l'Elysée
1014 Lausanne
PHOTO ELYSEE
Place de la Gare 17
1003 Lausanne
+41(0)21-3169911
Wed-Mon 10-18, Thu 10-20
Since the late 1950s, the photographic work of Bernd and Hilla Becher has been dedicated to industrial landscapes and buildings, including factories, water towers, blast furnaces, head frames, coal silos, etc., usually abandoned. Their approach can be described as scientific in the sense that their images are filed and archived according to their geographical locations or their functionality. This industrial architecture photographed in the same neutral light and according to the same parameters appears as sculpture removed from its context. THE EXHIBITION AT THE MUSÉE DE L'ELYSÉE Following the exhibition devoted to the publisher Steidl, the Musée de l’Elysée continues to explore the relationship between photography and print. The Bernd & Hilla Becher - In Prints 1964-2010 project offers a different perspective on the work of two major artists of the 20th century. The meticulous work of Antoine de Beaupré, curator of the exhibition, brought together all the printed matter - books, catalogues, limited editions, brochures, invitations, posters, etc. - dedicated to the Bechers. Their publications have indeed played a significant role in the development of their work and the structuring of the aesthetic to which their name has become associated. All these publications allow us to measure the progress since the early years of their common photographic work from the late 1950s to winning the Grand Prix of Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1990. The exhibition Bernd & Hilla Becher - In Prints 1964-2010 offers a new approach by not presenting any photographs (with the exception of the limited edition of the Industriebaute catalogue, 1968, which contains 10 prints) to focus on how the artists undertook the layout / staging - in the representation of their work.