The boundary between fact and vision: Jeff Wall at the Fondation Beyeler
Published: Friday, Jan 26th 2024, 15:11
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It is an immersion in a sphere of countless stories: With 55 works, the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen BS presents a comprehensive overview of the unmistakable oeuvre of the Canadian photo artist Jeff Wall.
The donkey stands lonely and somewhat lost in the corner of its stable. It could do with a clean once again. In the photograph "A Donkey in Blackpool" from 1999, the donkey itself appears in a melancholy state of mind, as if not of this world.
The impression left by the photographic history painting "Dead Troops Talk" from 1991/1992 is quite different. It shows a horror vision after an attack on a Red Army patrol in Afghanistan in 1986. Jeff Wall does not stop at depicting the dead soldiers, but allows them to continue to exist as zombies, smiling evilly and playing with their scraps of flesh.
These are two of the "cinematographic" photographic works by Jeff Wall on display in the eleven rooms of the Fondation, which are divided according to stylistic and thematic characteristics. What the works have in common is that they conceal entire stories that the viewer can piece together. They often look like video stills from films.
Documentation and staging
Wall himself uses the term "cinematographic" because he always combines the documentary aspect of photography with the element of a sometimes elaborate staging. However, Wall said on Friday at the media presentation of the exhibition, which will open its doors on Sunday, that he does not approach his work with a fixed idea, but is guided by his intention.
On the surface, these intentions often lead to quite banal everyday scenes. Or to scenes with references to other works of art, such as novels like the photograph "After 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue". Wall usually gave the works meaningless titles, such as "Monologue" for a meeting of three men who are clearly recognizable as mafiosi.
Special relationship with Basel
Wall has a special relationship with Basel. The Kunsthalle Basel dedicated an exhibition to him back in 1984. This was followed in 2005 by a major retrospective at Schaulager in Münchenstein BL, which Wall remembers with great pleasure, as he said.
The Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, on which Schaulager is based, purchased a number of the artist's works, which can now be seen in the exhibition, in which the artist actively participated, as Fondation Director Sam Keller said.
The exhibition "Jeff Wall" can be seen until April 21.
©Keystone/SDA
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