Still – Brigitte Lustenberger

The project

I have been working as an artist with photography for a long time. In my recent bodies of works the Baroque meets the present time. The images function like film stills – the before and the after is missing – and a lot of the action seems to be happening outside the photographic frame. This absence in the photograph on the one hand and the gazes, gestures and symbols inherent in the images on the other hand cause the viewer to construct her or his own narrative. These images are to be published as an art book.

STILL – Brigitte Lustenberger

«Brigitte Lustenberger’s images seduce the spectator’s gaze into a wonderful universe. Her visual language is closely related to art history. Our own stories and our own history mingle with these images as we are left in the dark if we have or have not seen them before. The photographs are like frozen reflections on the lapse of time. The interaction between Lustenberger’s single images is intriguing as there are so many coincidental plots to follow. Their beginnings are as undetermind as their outcomes. The spectator’s gaze meets the gazes of the photographed people, their gazes are caught by the photographer’s gaze. The stark contrast of the colors – most images have a deepblack background – pulls the spectator into another world.» Bernhard Bischoff, text about «etagen» show.

«Who is looking at whom? Brigitte Lustenberger’s photographs are pressing this question. The swiss artist looks into the relationship of the observer and the observed. She wants to know if the gaze is charged by information, by assumptions or anticipation, or rather by alleged knowledge. <…> The Zurich artist who lives and works in Bern opens up a carefully and smartly constructed scenario for the viewer’s phantasy and imagination to read potential relationships and enigmatic incidents in the image … without ever loosing its intriguing mysteriousness.» Alice Henkes in Der Bund

Why do I need your support?

We intend STILL to be a a highest quality publication with great print quality in order to see even the most subtle details in my images – also in the dark parts of the photographs. I work with a most professional team: graphic designer Flavia Cocchi, lithograph Roger Emmenegger and the printing house Courvoisier SA. The publication is supported artistically and financially by the two Co-editors and public funds. However, a fine publication has its price and I depend on your financial support. Besides the publication you can purchase my image «Flowers I» or «Flowers VII». Both images are presented in the video on this page.

Parties involved

• Brigitte Lustenberger, Artist
• Dr. Julie Hountou, Writer (assisted by Ariane Pollet)
• Flavia Cocchi, Graphic design
• Roger Emmenegger, Lithograph
• Nassim Daghighian, Art direction
• NEAR/Swiss Association for contemporary photography, Co-editor
• Till Schaap Edition, Co-editor, publisher and distributor, supported by Tricolor

Bio

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Brigitte Lustenberger studies at Zurich University and receives her MA in Social and Photo History in 1996. In the following years she establishes herself as an fine art photographer. She moves to New York and receives her MFA in «Fine Art Photography and Related Media» at Parsons The New School of Design in 2007. The main issues in her works lie in her interest in the study of the gaze, the interplay between absence and presence in a photographic image, and the fact that the reading of a photograph is most often triggered by a collective memory.

Brigitte Lustenberger has shown nationally and internationally in both solo and group shows. She had Solo Shows at the Museée de l’Elysée in Lausanne/Switzerland, at Scalo Gallery in Zurich and New York, at Le Maillon in Strasbourg/France, MadonnaFust Gallery in Bern, Photoforum PasquArt in Bienne. Her works have been part of group shows in the Kunsthalle Bern, Kunsthalle Luzern, Art Cologne, Centro Internationale de Fotografia in Milan. She was awarded the Grand Prize Winner PDNedu, the Golden Light Award, Shots/Corbis Student Photographer of the Year, Prix de Photoforum PasquArt, The Photo Review Comeptition, Selection Voies Off at Arles, and others. She received fellowships for Cairo and Maloja and was awarded with the presitgious swiss Landis&Gyr Resiceny in 2013. In the same year she was awarded for the second time (after 2002) the Photo Award of the Canton Bern.

Dr. Julia Hountou: Art historian and curator Dr. Julia Hountou is director of the gallery Theatre du Crochetan in Monthey, Valais/CH. She received her PhD about Gina Pane’s works between 1968 and 1981 at the Paris University/Panthéon/Sorbonne in 2007. 2009-2011 Hountou was member of the Academie de France in Rom/Villa Medici. Sie has been publishing articles and catalogs about contemporary art.

Bio

Die in Zürich geborene Brigitte Lustenberger studiert in den 90er Jahren Sozial-, Wahrnehmungs- und Fotogeschichte an der Universität Zürich (MA/Lic.Phil.I). In den folgenden Jahren verbindet sie die Theorie mehr und mehr mit der Praxis und etabliert sich als Künstlerin. Sie zieht nach New York und machte den MFA in «Fine Art Photography and Related Media» an der Parsons The New School of Design in 2007. Lustenbergers Werk setzt sich mit der Vergänglichkeit, dem Wesen der Fotografie, der Gewalt und dem Tod auseinander. Das Konzept des Blickes, die Präsenz und Abwesenheit im fotografischen Bild und die Auswirkungen der visuellen und virtuellen Realitäten auf das kollektives Gedächtnis sind weitere Hauptinteressen in ihrer künstlerischen Arbeit.

Brigitte Lustenberger stellt national und international aus und arbeitet als Gast-Dozentin am Seminar für Kulturwissenschaften und europäische Ethnologie der Universität Basel. Sie zeigte ihre Werke in Einzelausstellungen im Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, in der Scalo Galerie in Zürich und New York, im Le Maillon/La Chambre in Strasbourg/Frankreich, in der Madonna#Fust Galerie in Bern, im Photoforum PasquArt in Biel. In Gruppenausstellungen stellte sie u.a. in der Kunsthalle Bern, in der Kunsthalle Luzern, an der Art Cologne, am Centro Internationale de Fotografia in Milano aus. Ihre Arbeiten wurden im In- uns Ausland ausgezeichnet: Grand Prize Winner PDNedu/New York, Golden Light Award/Maine, Shots/Corbis Student Photographer of the Year/London, Prix de Photoforum PasquArt/Schweiz, The Photo Review Comeptition/USA, Selection Voies Off at Arles/Frankreich und andere. Sie erhielt Atelierstipendien für Kairo/Ägypten und Maloja/Schweiz und bekam das prestigeträchtige Landis&Gyr Stipendium 2013. Im gleichen Jahr erhielt die Künstlerin zum zweite Mal nach 2002 den Fotopreis des Kantons Bern.

Bio der Autorin: Die Kunsthistorikerin und Kuratorin Dr. Julia Hountou ist Direktorin der Galerie des Theaters Crochetan in Monthey im Kanton Wallis. Sie hat ihre Dissertation über die Arbeiten von Gina Pane von 1968 bis 1981 an der Universität Paris I/Panthéon/Sorbonne 2007 geschrieben. 2009-2010 war sie an der Académie de France in Rom, der Villa Medici. Sie schreibt über zeitgenössische Kunst und hat diverse Artikel und Ausstellungskataloge veröffentlicht.