Andreas Gefeller

Like in Andreas Gefeller´s former series „Blank“, certain parts of the images in his recent series “The Backside of Light” are almost eliminated by an exceeding incidence of light. By means of overexposure and time exposure the unifying contours become blurred by brightness, so that the overall impression becomes unclear and lacks coherence. At the same time, chaotic inner structures, formerly obscure areas, are revealed to the eye. Due to areas annihilated by lightness, or strikingly blank areas, images of a Chilean araucaria or a birch forest appear unfinished or incomplete, pointing to the limitations of vision or, in a further sense, the restrictions of consciousness or knowledge. Such perturbances might refer to the “noise of the medium”, the faults and defects inherent in the carrier of information, or else, the inhibitions of the perceptive process. Gefeller questions photography and sight as revelatory means, through which we gain insight into our surroundings.

Andreas Gefeller´s works are imbued with the subtle poetry of intense observation. In revealing traces and pointing out structures, he does not merely give way to his fascination for creation and an intense observation of a changing environment. Rather, Gefeller directs a ray of light onto existential questions. With a sensitive intuition Andreas Gefeller lays open the ample associative potential inherent in superficial apparitions, revealing the cosmic dimension of everyday phenomena. Whether he captures the sparks of a campfire or the tender fabric of a moth, the fleeting texture turns into the All-Over of a universal structure.