For John and Jürgens, the two genres complement each other. Different languages seek dialog at eye level.
It is curiosity about life that connects the two and the eternal question 'What is hidden behind the surfaces? Our aesthetic sensibilities have been influenced by painting for centuries, while photography has challenged and inspired painting since its invention in the first half of the 19th century. John and Jürgens - with references to great role models and a view of the new, working analogously in black and white with the camera and in color in the classic panel painting. The focus is on the portrait - direct, challenging and occasionally disturbing. Photography and painting - mirror images of our being. They are witnesses of a much too short stay.
After graduating from high school, Katharina John worked as a stage designer at various German theaters. These included the Kampnagelfabrik in Hamburg, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, the Hamburger Kammerspiele, the TAT in Frankfurt and the Hebbel Theater in Berlin. Inspired by her many travels, she began to take photographs and worked as a theater and portrait photographer. She has lived in Italy since 1999 and in Berlin since 2020. In 2007, she published her first book 'Die Seerose im Speisesaal' together with her husband, the actor Ulrich Tukur, to whose Venetian stories she contributed the photographs. The book 'Das hohe Lied der Liebe' was published in 2009, followed by the poetry collection 'Wehe, wirre, wunderliche Worte' in 2011 and 'Unterwegs' in 2013, a collection of photographic impressions taken on the Way of St. James that inspired Götz Loepelmann to write eighty fantastic short stories. Solo exhibitions of her photographs were held in 2022 at the Fotografie-Forum Aachen and the Center for Art and Media ZKM in Karlsruhe, among others.
Manfred W. Jürgens studied science graphics and photography at the Fachschule für Werbung und Gestaltung in Berlin. After completing his studies, he initially worked as a communication designer; he has been a freelance painter since 1993. He has presented his work in numerous solo exhibitions since 2001, including in Wismar, Kühlungsborn, Hamburg, Leipzig and Venice. Work visits have taken him to England, Ireland, Italy, France, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and China. Jürgens was born in Mecklenburg and, after living in Hamburg and Bremen, has been back on the Baltic Sea in Wismar since 2017.
Vernissage: Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 5 pm / Interview of the portrayed girls Ella and Lina with the photographer and the painter.
Concert: Tobias Deutsch - Piano , Thomas Hanke - Harmonica: Sensitive and virtuoso original compositions for harmonica and piano with attention to detail. Top class music from Leipzig.
Dates during this exhibition:
Sundays, May 18/June 1/June 8/June 29, 2025, always at 3 p.m.: Guided tour of the exhibition for children by the painter Manfred W. Jürgens
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 18:00: Reading with actor Christian Redl "Life has no railing". He has written down his life - honestly, sincerely, unembellished.
Saturday, July 5, 1025, 17:00: Finissage with concert by the band "The Beez"
