Candida Höfer. Europa / America

About

Inspired by German-Prussian architect Erich Mendelsohn’s 1929 publication, Russland Europa Amerika: Ein architektonischer Querschnitt (An Architectural Cross Section), Johnston and Lee have selected fourteen photographs taken by Höfer between 1993 and 2015. Through Höfer’s carefully composed photographs of interior spaces primarily intended for entertainment, study, and worship, Europa / America explores sites that convey social significance in North American and European society. This novel grouping reveals a compelling impulse throughout Höfer’s oeuvre: to capture how architecture illuminates the cultural histories of a particular time and place. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, November 16, from 5 to 7 PM. The artist will be present.

Europa / America builds upon Höfer’s 2023 exhibition at Sean Kelly, New York, Heaven on Earth, curated by architect Toshiko Mori. While Heaven on Earth probed the vertical relationship between architecture and its transcendent, otherworldly connotations, here, Johnston and Lee have established a linear dialogue. The works on view span from West to East, with the front half of the gallery featuring North American interiors, and the back half consisting of European locations. The geographic dichotomy and shift mirrors Höfer’s journey in documenting North American spaces, after years of focusing on her native Europe. Despite this dichotomy, the photographs are united by Höfer’s distinct attention to symmetry, lighting, and an evocation of both vastness and intimacy, transforming each location into its own, complex world.