Exhibition Wolfgang Ganter: Local Infection

The artist Wolfgang Ganter alienates works of art by infecting photographs with bacterial cultures and achieving astonishing results.

The WORKS IN PROGRESS exhibited at the Central Institute for Art History are based on photographs of artworks taken by the artist Wolfgang Ganter and then infected with bacterial cultures. The bacteria feed on the photographic emulsion, i.e. the gelatine layers of the photographic film, and "tease out" all the colors still hidden in it and rearrange them.
The artist tries to learn from each treated image and later apply what he has learned in a targeted manner. In this respect, the result is not a pure product of chance, but rather a forced coincidence. The production process is controlled in such a way that the original motif is optimized aesthetically and in terms of content, i.e. it makes "progress".
Usually, attempts are made to remove works of art from the cycle of life and matter by restoring them to their original state. According to Ganter, this causes them to lose some of their charm, their atmospheric effect and their authenticity. Wolfgang Ganter sees WORKS IN PROGRESS as his very personal processing of art history. The exhibition aims to bring you closer to this process of artistic exploration and appropriation.

Image info:
Exhibition view, photo: Eva Blüml