CURATED: GOTTFRIED JÄGER

Since the early 1960s, Gottfried Jäger has been working in the field of "abstract" photography. He regards the photographic process not only as a medium for conveying external conditions but as an artistic object in its own right.

With this approach, he is the forerunner of a new generation of photographic artists such as James Welling, Walid Beshty, Liz Deschenes, Marco Breuer, and others. In over fifty years of visual practice, his name has become one of the best known in German photographic art. In 2014, he received the Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography, like Stephen Shore (2010), Wolfgang Tillmans (2009), Ed Ruscha (2006), and David Hockney (1997) before him. The prize also recognized his academic achievements as a photo theorist and photo historian.

His works are "photographs of photography" (Stiegler), the result of a search for the hidden image in the photographic universe. In the process, his own image orders emerge, which are reflected in a partly logical, partly random series of images, comparable to experimental investigations in a scientific laboratory. These include GRADATIONS (1983), made visible through the photographic black-and-white material, and CHROMOGENIC SERIES (from 1980). With his MOSAICS, Jäger succeeded in the 1990s in connecting and transitioning to computer-related works. He calls them "snapshots," snapshots from the data network. They are not created "of their own free will" in a single creative moment but on the basis of earlier, photo-generated works and programs. Jäger shows that each technique generates its own visibility. His series reflect the logic of the apparatus and the controlled and repeatable process of finding and creating images.

With this approach, Gottfried Jäger participated in the activities of the first generation of early computer art and its manifestations: for example, in EXPERIMENTS IN ART AND TECHNOLOGY, Brooklyn Museum, New York, 1968, in NEW TENDENCIES, Zagreb, 1969; and worldwide in WEGE ZUR COMPUTERKUNST, 1970–1976, curated by Herbert W. Franke.

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ARTIST

EXHIBITION

STANZFORM (Theme and Variations VI) is a series of artworks by Gottfried Jäger, created in 1965. This series, along with the Rasterfelder works from the same year, represents a transition in Jäger's art from object-related to free, non-object-related designs. The STANZFORM series features grid indents that take on their own form and meaning within the broader context of the Rasterfelder group. 
Gottfried Jäger has been working in the field of abstract photography since the early 1960s. He sees photography not just as a medium to capture external conditions but as an artistic object in itself. Throughout his over fifty years of artistic practice, Jäger has become one of the most renowned names in German photographic art. In 2014, he received the Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography, which recognized both his artistic achievements and his contributions as a photo theorist and photo historian.

STANZFORM

PINHOLE STRUCTURE 3.8.14 D 7, 1.3, 1973 is a gelatin silver print created by Gottfried Jäger. It belongs to a group of works that explore generative photography on a systematic-constructive basis. 
The series of works to which this artwork belongs was created as a contribution to the field of generative photography. The first eight series, referred to as program 3.1-3.8, were exposed on color and black-and-white materials (paper and film) between January 12 and 30, 1967. The unique prints from this series were produced on color paper (series 3.1 and 3.2) and on film, allowing for duplications (prints). The black-and-white series 3.8 represents a preliminary conclusion, with image number 14 (the last in the series) serving as the basis for further modifications based on specific design parameters. This particular image was designated "3.8.14 A" and became a key image for the subsequent creation of around 200 derived images. 
Pinhole structures, as seen in this artwork, originate from the principle of optical imaging found in the camera obscura (pinhole camera). Jäger developed this concept into a complex optical system, a variable multiple pinhole camera. This system provided a method for designing geometric patterns according to a programmed and comprehensible generative image grammar. The initial works from this series were exhibited at the Generative Photography exhibition in 1968 at the Kunsthaus Bielefeld, which showcased works by other artists such as Breier, Cordier, and Gravenhorst, accompanied by texts from Herbert W. Franke and Gottfried Jäger. 
The artwork has been exhibited and published in various contexts, including the first exhibition at the Kunsthaus Bielefeld in February and March 1968. It was also featured in publications such as "Generative Fotografie" in Foto Prisma (Düsseldorf, 1969) and "Pinhole Structures. Generative Photographic Works 1967-1974" in Pinhole Journal (San Lorenzo, NM, USA, 1989), with a subsequent reprint in HyperSpace (Kyoto, Japan, 1998). 
Notable collections that include Jäger's works are the Etzold Collection, Program Random System at the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, the Peter C. Ruppert Collection: Concrete Art in Europe after 1945 at the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg, and the Photographic Collection at Museum Folkwang Essen.

Pinhole Structure 3.8.14 D 7, 1.3, 1973

The exhibition presents pioneers from different generations, early 1950s until today, working in the field of generative art. On view will be, among others, plotter drawings, generative photography, sculptures, and NFTs from 30 international artists. In collaboration with ELEMENTUM.ART.

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GOTTFRIED JÄGER

ART

EXHIBITION