27.11.09–9.1.10

Opening: 27.11.09, 18-20 h

(24.12.09–6.1.10 only by appointment)

The second solo exhibition of Annaïk Lou Pitteloud shows a larger group of works, created in the last two years. Annaïk Lou Pitteloud is a gifted narrator and composer of a fascinating, allegedly real world, by means of photographic settings. One never knows if the pictures are coincidental snap-shots or complex sill lives of our society. The artist is also a perfectionist in playing with light and space. The settings are always beautifully illuminated and nebulous; nevertheless the sun shines in none of her pictures. Day and night shots are equally standing next to each other, frozen in an inapprehensible, diffuse course of time. The concentration on the distance between human beings dominate her works and fascinate over and over again.

She seeks barren places, seemingly just documenting them, but actually composing them in a totally new content. The locations of her settings are dismal office spaces, bleak backyards or dim pubs. The artist starts her process with a thorough investigation of the chosen places, followed by several revisits and the taking of innumerable photographs. She then transforms the different layers into a new whole. The barren places turn into bright stages of life and into settings for exciting stories. At times she works with a subtle change of perspectives and thereby suddenly leads the spectator’s look into a totally different direction. The large compositions may be compared to panorama pictures of the 19th century, creating a gripping scenery by meticulously adding one detail to another.

The works should be looked at as cinematic screenshots more than as common photographs – they are like theatrical raree shows, dispreading themselves multifaceted before the spectators’ eyes. The works tap the pulse of time and coquet with art history. They may be regarded as pictures taken from glossy lifestyle magazines as well as old master paintings. Annaïk Lou Pitteloud`s works offend as they relentlessly reveal social structures, thereby dealing with emotions like fear, hope, desire and romance.

Bernhard Bischoff, November 2009

Translation: Patsy Kornfeld