Klaus Elle – Experiment and Vision

Beginning with studies in photography and later in experimental painting, Klaus Elle developed an investigative approach to the photographic medium at a very early stage in his career, favouring a cross-disciplinary practice. His photo-installations and body-related works, characterised by expressive visual language, overlays, multiple exposures, and overpainting, challenged the expectations of conventional photography at the time. After facing reprisals from the East German state, surveillance by the Stasi, and closure of his exhibitions, he relocated to Hamburg with his family in 1988. This exhibition present Klaus Elle’s early work for the first time, placing it in an art-historical context with photographic practices of his generation in the GDR.
 
Curated by Franziska Schmidt