Martin Dammann
Zweite Totale
In his pioneering essay The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility,(1) Walter Benjamin uses the term “aura” to describe that certain something that is lost by the artwork when it is duplicated by technical means. German artist Martin Dammann reverts the process described by Benjamin, returning something of their lost aura to his technically reproduced source material—in this case archival photographs—by way of painting.
In his current exhibition, Dammann presents a series of large format drawings of watercolor landscapes, along with enlarged archival photographs, drawings of reclining women, strange “illustrations” of objects produced with a scanner. If we were to look for a single term to describe the commonalities in these works done in different techniques and formats, it would be “landscape” in the broadest sense of the term. Martin Dammann is not satisfied with commenting on the First and Second World War, even though his works use vintage photos of that time. Dammann’s pictures are neither bloody nor violent; they do not overwhelm the beholder with horrifying images or martial statements. They rather attest to the artist’s interest in the notion of history, on the one hand investigating the way we look at documents and the emotions conveyed by archival imagery (for instance family photographs, even if not showing our own relatives). In Benjamin’s words, "It is useful to illustrate the notion of aura, proposed above for historical objects, by using the concept of the aura for natural objects. We define the latter as the singular appearance of a remoteness, however close it may be. Following with our eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you as you rest on a summer afternoon: that is breathing the aura of those mountains, of that branch.“(1)
The exhibition Zweite Totale (a German cinema term that refers to an overview of the entire scene) is based on a project that took several months to complete. The aim was to create a series of landscapes that on the one hand dealt with nature, or more precisely, the notion of nature and its inherent romanticism.
Five large-size watercolors are on view in the gallery’s main room, the central part of the exhibition, and around these paintings the other artworks in the exhibition have been assembled. The conspicuous absence of human figures in these works is counterbalanced by a series of small drawings showing loved ones. But it would be a mistake to locate the aforementioned romanticism in either the human figures or the emptiness of the landscape, since it is ultimately concealed within the desiring and loving eye of the person who took the original photographs on which the artist’s works are based.
In a broad sense, the exhibition also explores the question, "What is war?" For besides soldiers and weapons, war is always also about landscape. On the one hand, the warring parties see a landscape with a strong desire to take possession of it. Accordingly, some of the images used by Martin Dammann are aerial reconnaissance photographs, taken from planes that flew over purportedly strategic positions (including Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, where the similarity to an army facility is hard to see). They are images that the artist does not immediately transform to watercolors, for alone their detail-true photographic enlargement allows the foundational characteristics of the original to be clearly recognized and refer to "that singular appearance of a remoteness" which Benjamin detected in the aura. Secondly, through the bombing and shooting that occurs in war, and the subsequent redrafting of borders on the map, the entire landscape undergoes a transformation along with the victor’s assertion of ownership over the desired territory. Finally, the landscape is appropriated because both its image and reality have changed; the possession of both “the desired territory and its modified version” completes the process. This triple logic “of observing, transforming and possessing” also underpins Martin Dammann’s latest series of works. The artist starts by observing the original images; he then draws or paints them, and thus interprets what he has observed, finally taking complete hold of the images by exposing their hidden qualities, or should we say, “aura”? Like Benjamin’s mountains or treebranch, Dammann’s pictures most likely deal with "remoteness, however close it may be.”
(1) Walter Benjamin, Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1966), p. 15.
Text: Thibaut de Ruyter
Biography
born 1965 in Friedrichshafen/Bodensee, lives and works in Berlin
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018
"Abstieg", InSitu - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
2017
Kein schöner Land, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2016
Schuld, Galerie InSitu – Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
2015
Zum Resultat beruhigter Tumult, Kunsthalle, Nuernberg
weiter weg, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2014
Martin Dammann. Mit dem Rücken zur Wand, Märkisches Museum Witten (im Rahmen von 25 Jahre / 25 Künstler / 25 Bilder, Kunstsiftung NRW)
Zeichnungen, In Situ – Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Dieses Feuer, Atelier Rouart, Paris
aus dem über heraus, Kunstsaele Berlin
2013
Galerie InSitu – Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Goodbye Paradise – Landschaftsbilder gestern und heute, Kunsthalle Osnabrück
Nur hier, Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Ankäufe, von 2007 bis 2011, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn
2012
Blind Spot, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
2011
gegen über, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Frauen, In Situ / Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
2009
Malerei-Zeichnung, Kunstverein Konstanz, Constance
Soldier Studies und Neue Malerei, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Fremde Freunde, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen
2008
Zweite Totale, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
2007
Repromancer, Kunstverein Arnsberg e.V., Arnsberg
2006
Collecting militaria gives you something to talk about, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2005
Vanishing Point, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
Überdeutschland, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Vanishing Point 2, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
2003
New Works, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2002
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlin
1998
Transmission, Espace des Arts, Chalon-sur-Saône
Blitz Licht, Kunstruimte, Berlin
1996
Galerie Herold, Bremen
1995
Galerie 21, St. Petersburg
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018
CONCENTRATION - a tribute, Gesellschaft für projektive Ästhetik Georg Kargl, Vienna
2017
ZWANZIG 20 years Galerie Barbara Thumm, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
"En marge", InSitu- Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Group-Picture, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2015
Fire and Forget. On Violence, Kunstwerke Berlin
The Beast and the Sovereign, MACBA – Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona
BER-DTM-HNL – Fasten your seatbelts, HMKV, Dortmund
2014
DER KUBIST MARCEL DUCHAMP MAG NICHT MALEN, Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Summerstage, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Emotionsräume, Kunstverein Talstraße, Halle/Saale
Kunst Oberschwaben 20. Jahrhundert – 1970 bis heute, Schloss Achberg, Achberg, Germany
2013
Donation Florence et Daniel Guerlain, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Goodbye Paradise – Landschaftsbilder gestern und heute, Kunsthalle Osnabrueck
Spur der Steine, Alte Feuerwache, Kulturhaus Friedrichshain, Berlin
Nur hier, Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der BRD Ankäufe von 2007-2011, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der BRD, Bonn
Bremer Schule, ESSEN UND TRINKEN MUSUEM, Berlin
2012
Mohrenshow, Wurlitzer Art, Berlin
Choses vues á Droite et á Gauche (sans lunettes), Ballhaus Ost Berlin, Berlin
2011
10 Years Autocenter, Autocenter, Berlin
Rollenbilder.Rollenspiele, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg
Erika Mustermann Collection, Der Strich, Berlin
EHF 2010, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlin
State of the Union, Freies Museum, Berlin
2010
Fine Line, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
Einen Ort herstellen, Neuer Sächsicher Kunstverein, Dresden
Family Jewels, Galerien der Stadt Esslingen, Esslingen
A Generation, Petach Tikva Museum of Art Israel, Israel
La Revanche de l´Archive Photographique, Centre de la Photographie, Geneva
2009
Schickeria – High Society, BDA-Ausstellungsraum, Braunschweig
Biennale Venezia, 53rd International Art Exhibition, Venice
Family Jewels, Galerien der Stadt Esslingen, Esslingen
The Fear Society – Pabellon De La Urgencia, Arsenale Novissimo, Venice
2008
Vertrautes Terrain – Aktuelle Kunst in und über Deutschland, ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Nothing to declare, 4. Triennale zeitgenössischer Kunst Oberschwaben, Friedrichshafen
Wild Signals, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart
Quo Vadis, Autocenter, Berlin
2007
Männerfantasien, Chung King Project, Los Angeles (curated by Ellen Blumenstein)
Between the Two Deaths, ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Malkunst, 2. Aktuelle Malerei in Berlin, Mudima - Fondazione per l’Arte Contemporanea, Milan
2006
VAC – Colección Valencia Arte Contemporáneo, IVAM, Valencia
Don´t talk about it, Berlin
I walk the lines, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Berlin Tendenzen, La Capella – Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, Barcelona
SPEED, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2005
Trial of Power, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin (curated by Maik Schlüter)
Richtig Wichtig, PACT, Amsterdam
Good Timing, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
Waters and Watercolours, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
2004
Foreign Affairs Berlin, Tent Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Rotterdam
From Above, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna
2003
Video Programme, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
2001
Einsiedler, Vorübergehend, Museum Folkwang, Essen
Pandaemonium, The Lux Centre, London
2000
Experimental Projects, PS1 - Contemporary Art Center, New York
No Vacancies, Galerie Barbara Thumm/Angelika Richter, Berlin
1999
View, Galerie Eigen & Art, Berlin
Kunstwerke e.V., Berlin
Kunstbank, Berlin
art club berlin, Berlin and AUbase art space, New York
1998
Between, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Florida
Sub Fiction, 3. Werkleitz Biennale, Werkleitz
Blockbuster, Kunst + Technik, Berlin
1997
Medienpaket, ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Hybrid Work Space, Documenta X, Kassel
Kunst + Technik, Berlin
11 Videos, Dogenhaus Projekte, Berlin
L´immagine leggera, Videofestival, Palermo
1996
Auswahl 7. Marler Videopreis, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten, Marl
Cluster Images, Werkleitz Biennale, Werkleitz
Die 50 besten, Video Award of ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Digitale ´96, Photokina/Kunsthochschule für Medien, Cologne
1995
Dirty Windows Gallery, Berlin
Pearls Vol. II, Stiftung Starke, Berlin
1994
Werkstattgalerie Hohentorsheerstraße, Bremen
Ars Grafinova, Ostrobothnian Museum, Vaasa
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