Michael Ruetz (Fotografie) & Frank Teufel (Skulptur)

In the organizer's words:

Michael Ruetz achieved international fame with his photographic work, particularly as a chronicler of significant political events. A formative experience in 1968, when he witnessed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and Prague, marked the beginning of his journalistic career. During his time as a photo reporter and member of the editorial team of Stern magazine, Ruetz presented his photographic work in exhibitions for the first time and took part in documenta V in Kassel in 1972. His iconic photographs of the 1968 movement are not only an important testimony to this period, but also continue to shape the image of this protest movement to this day. His later photo series on Joseph Beuys documents how Ruetz accompanied the exceptional artist over a period of five years, capturing key moments in his life and artistic work. In addition, his exploration of themes such as the visualization of time and the changeability of landscapes play a central role in his photographic oeuvre.

The physical properties of a material and the expression it conveys are rarely as contradictory as in Frank Teufel's sculptures. Using coarse granite and stone, the artist creates works that enchant with their surprising lightness and dynamism. He transforms the solid structure of the stone into lines full of tension, whereby the traces of his craftsmanship remain visible on the surface. Through a skillfully reduced formal language and the play of movement captured in the stone, Teufel brings the aesthetics of the material to the fore.