The lens of her camera works as a scalpel, tracing the fine lines between public and private space, deconstructing society’s power structures and nature’s formal qualities. Graschopf’s interest lies in the relationship between the inside and the outside, constantly shifting between levels of micro and macro: the fragile balance of the equilibrium of power becomes an aesthetic experience. Her subtle way of permutation and rearrangement reveals the constant struggle between subject and object, image and imagination. Roland Barthes and Marcel Proust are key references, as their awareness and sensibility towards sociological narratives are clearly reflected in Graschopf’s methodical approach.
Critical approaches towards the photographic medium itself are as present as the investigatory interest in the subjects themselves, creating a unified whole, a vibrant oscillation between the meta and the medium, self-reflective and exploratory alike.
Graschopf’s works manage to bring the weight of structured theory together with the performative energy of street-art and graffiti, where pioneers like Keith Haring not only redefined the relationship between society and art, but also renegotiated the boundary of public and private. But rather than a remembrance of things past, “Space Forward” is looking ahead, transcending the photographic paradigm and going beyond the limitations of the frame, making the exhibition space itself the canvas, investigating the difference between the projection and the projected. On opening night, a very special installation will be performed by Birgit Graschopf.