On show are about 20 monumental photo light boxes by Canadian conceptual artist Rodney Graham (*1949) from 2000 to today.
The photo light boxes have a special place in the multi-facetted oeuvre of this multi-talented artist. Their pictorial language is opulently sensual and deeply humorous; they transmit refreshing and astonishing aspects, whereby Graham repeatedly undermines the surface beauty with his ironic diversity and culture-historical references. Rodney Graham likes to put himself at centre stage as the lead player in his photographs. He refers to literature, music, film or the icons of art history and adopts the various different roles, always with a subtle sense of humour.
The Rodney Graham exhibition is a continuation of a series of shows at Museum Frieder Burda devoted to contemporary photography. Following on from Gregory Crewdson and Andreas Gursky, the Canadian opens the next chapter in this exciting medium. The photographic artists presented in Baden-Baden are characterised especially by their aesthetics and narrative, poetic subject matter, which they concentrate conceptually in their works, emotionally involving the observer in the events being portrayed.