Kiki Kausch

In the organizer's words:

TIMEOUT - 43 portraits in 43 days

The Kunsthalle Rostock is showing over 40 impressive, partly large-format photographs in the Schaudepot.

Germany, shut down. So much time lost. Or is it? Kiki Kausch has visited actors and producers, singers and DJs, painters and art collectors, club owners and star chefs at home in Berlin. From her ladder, i.e. from a distance, she photographed the creatives condemned to standstill. Her pictures bring her close to them. Source: F.A.Z. Magazine June 13, 2020 "Timeout" "43 Portraits in 43 days - Berlin lockdown"

In spring 2020, when the first lockdown brought the world to an unexpected standstill, the art world also took an unexpected break. During this time, Berlin-based photo artist Kiki Kausch used the moments of calm she gained to visit prominent figures from the art and cultural scene as well as business people in Berlin. Using a ladder and her Leica camera, she documented the everyday lives of these "shut-ins" in their apartments and houses in deserted places of work.

In 43 days, 43 portraits were taken, including images of Heike Makatsch, Christian Berkel, Sabin Tambrea, Marcel Dettmann, Nico Hofmann, Katja Riemann, Daniel Donskoy, Jonathan Meese and Timo Miettinen, to name but a few. The photographs show the protagonists in a wide variety of places - be it the CEO of KaDeWe on the escalator, Berlin's only 3-star chef in his garden or the general manager of the Hotel de Rome in the ballroom.

The "Timeout" exhibition will be on display at the Kunsthalle Rostock's Schaudepot and will focus not only on the portraits, but also on questions about the lockdown experience. Were they locked up or, looking back, do they perceive the time as a completely new freedom? What lasting changes did this experience bring about in their lives and minds?

One of the protagonists of the photo series, Jonathan Meese, expresses this experience with the words: "Only art is total freedom! Only your lifeblood recognizes the most loving freedom! Never live at the expense of others, that is the most total freedom."

This is the second photography exhibition at the Kunsthalle Rostock by Berlin-based photo artist Kiki Kausch. Hollywood stars such as Michael Douglas, Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio, actresses such as Renée Zellweger and Cameron Diaz and directors such as Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg have stood in front of her camera.
Kiki Kausch had her breakthrough in 2006 as part of an exhibition by Karl Lagerfeld. Exhibitions at the Martin Gropius Bau, galleries and international luxury hotels brought her to the attention of collectors from all over the world.