Marta Hoepffner-Gesellschaft für Fotografie e.V.

The exhibition “VorBilder. Ein fotografischer Dialog von Nicole Ahland und Sibylle Fendt mit Marta Hoepffner” shows photo series by two contemporary female photographers in conjunction with works by Marta Hoepffner (1912–2000). In her work, Marta Hoepffner was interested in a visual concretization of reality composed of light, space, and movement, a so called "poetry of rational consciousness".

“VorBilder" brings selected abstract and figurative photographs by Hoepffner into dialogue with current works by the Wiesbaden-based photo artist Nicole Ahland and the Berlin photographer Sibylle Fendt, who teaches at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin. In the exhibition shown at the Stadtmuseum Hofheim, the three photographers cover 60 years of artistic photography.

“In the end, only light”. Space as a perceptual element forms the core of Nicole Ahland's artistic work (*1970 GER). Her main focus is on places that tell a cultural story. Following Hoepffner's joy of experimentation while at the same time precisely planning her compositions, Ahland shows a multi-part series of works of light modulations describing space, in which photographic themes such as silhouette, reflection, refraction and absorption are found in great abstraction.

“Portraits”. Inspired by Marta Hoepffner, Sibylle Fendt's (*1974 GER) works are driven by respect and an appreciative attitude towards the portrayed protagonists. Fendt meets artists who have the courage to break through bourgeois paradigms, to question gender roles and express this through their character and their art. In her portraits she wants to express the strength and power of these unique personalities.

Marta Hoepffner worked in a time marked by war and ideological conflict. A time that demanded a credible attitude, from female artists in particular. The exhibition “VorBilder”  shifts these qualities into the present and questions the possibilities of the medium of photography from a female point of view. The exhibition is curated by the Marta Hoepffner-Gesellschaft für Fotografie e.V. in cooperation with the Stadtmuseum in Hofheim am Taunus. Marta Hoepffner lived and worked in Hofheim am Taunus from 1944 to 1970.

A 96-page catalogue is published to accompany the exhibition and is available for 15€.