Michael Schnabel
STILLE BERGE
November 16, 2006 – December 23, 2006
Mountains are grand geologic and geographic structures. They raise themselves from their surroundings thereby obstructing views and routes of transportation. That is their nature. They challenge us to move in a different way as the horizontal passage over the earth transforms into a vertical ascent. Reaching the peak requires a laborious climb. For many, mountains have a limiting dimension. Others see the tremendous mass as a form of liberation and flee to the endless panorama. Mountains are not to be overlooked and impress us with their permanence. The invention of the common panorama roots in this interrelation. The history of the mountains is a history of vertical conquest. Schnabel has dedicated an extensive body of work to the mystery of the mountains. With its suggestive power the body of work ‘Stille Berge’ – comprising 35 nightscapes shot in the Alps – breaks the iconographic tradition of the romantic in a contemporary exceptionally bold photographic approach. Spanning over a number of years Schnabel exposed mountains in the night, on starless cloudy nights absent of moonlight, to capture the silent giants in a vague hardly recognizable gravitational massiveness. Something is happening in Schnabel's works. The mountains, which stand so solitary and clean, overcome the viewer in the form of an utter silence that is nearly physical. The images, which first appear monochromatic and black, reveal in reality the nuances of countless colors imbued with the aura of the inapproachable. Schnabel's ‘Stille Berge’ are elusive. There are colors in the works which unveil in an instant the delicate structures and marvelous details in an unseen beauty.
Michael Schnabel studied in Darmstadt and San Francisco and lives in Stuttgart. His conceptually formulated work has received numerous prizes, publications and has been exhibited around the world. ‘Stille Berge’ is diminishing darkness in its most beautiful form.
Michael Schnabel studied in Darmstadt and San Francisco and lives in Stuttgart. His conceptually formulated work has received numerous prizes, publications and has been exhibited around the world. ‘Stille Berge’ is diminishing darkness in its most beautiful form.
