Candida Höfer: In Mexico

The exhibition at Sean Kelly gallery gathers pictures by the German artist Candida Höfer, internationally renown for her big-size architectural pictures. The ones exhibited here are the result of the artist’s Mexican journey in 2015, as part of the cultural exchange programme Mexico-Germany Dual Year,  which brought different kinds of initiatives to the attention of Mexican audiences in 2016-2017.

During her career, the artist has always portrayed the interior of monumental spaces, such as libraries, theatres, churches and museums, mainly gathering places, but completely devoid of people. Her goal, in fact, is to investigate the psychological impact of architecture and the divergence between the conception of a space and its actual use.

Candida Höfer travelled throughout Mexico, collecting pictures of the most varied places and capturing their most intimate essence. Besides her iconic large-format photographs, on view also a selection of smaller ones, shot with an hand-camera she always carries with her. This latter collection portray hidden places and smaller details, enhancing the dialogue between the micro and the macro and bringing to attention often overlooked or inaccessible elements.