German photographer Thomas Kellner has recently completed a commission for the Boston Athenaeum. The works, entitled “ALL SHOOK UP” are on view through April 19th. Click here for maps/directions; call for more information call (617) 227-0270.
From the Athenaeum website:
“In his Anthaeum series, Kellner’s analytical eye plays with the symmetry, the decorative patterns of ironwork and mouldings, the rhythmic alternations of white pilasters and color-filled alcoves that characterize the grand two-story rooms. The result is joyful, festive, animated, but solid. As our director Richard Wendorf writes in his introductory essay for the exhibition catalog, Kellner’s images celebrate the Athenaeum’s interior space by ‘visually lending it a kinetic energy that metaphorically invokes the intellectual and cultural vitality of the institution.”
“Kellner’s vibrant images are composed of contact sheets and the process of their assembly is painstaking. The artist sketches his subject, then makes a grid and determines the size of the final image – how many frames he will shoot across and how many up. When the shooting begins, Kellner works from right to left, from bottom to top, ‘literally building up the scene’ as Richard Wendorf says, and methodically ticking off each shot in his notebook documenting the position of the camera. Most of the Athenaeum interiors were composed on a grid eighteen frames across and twenty frames up, for a total of 360 intensly observed shots per image.”
A fully-illustrated catalog of the exhibition, with an introductory essay by Richard Wendorf, is available for purchase at the Boston Athnaeum for $20.00.
NOTE: Read the comment below from the commissioning institution for more information.
bostonathenaeum said
Thank you for the write up! An important correction — the Thomas Kellner talk is actually Thursday, February 14th at 6:00 p.m., with a reception to follow. Due to space restrictions, events at the Boston Athenaeum are typically open only to members and invited guests, but readers of this list are welcome to contact me if they would like to attend. We are always looking for new members interested in the arts.
The lecture is entitled Shooting My First Library, an illustrated talk by Thomas Kellner, in converstation with Richard Wendorf (director of the library and subject of Kellner’s first color portrait in his signature style).
The All Shook Up: Thomas Kellner Photographs the Boston Athenaeum exhibition is free and open to the public through April 19 at 10 1/2 Beacon Street.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Alexander
Marketing & Communications Officer
The Boston Athenaeum
617-720-7654 (direct)
alexander@bostonathenaeum.org