Guido Guidi: »Le Corbusier - 5 Architectures«

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Opening Hours for the Gallery Weekend (April 27–29)

Fri | Sa 11 am–7 pm

Sun 11 am–6 pm

On show will be a series called »Le Corbusier – 5 Architectures« that was shot in 2003. The homonymous book is going to be published by Kehrer Verlag in June.

The artist, who is also well known for his landscape photography and previously already documented buildings by Carlo Scarpa (1906–1978) and Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969), took on five different buildings by Le Corbusier (1887–1965) in France in 2003. These works are now being shown in Germany for the first time.

This series is a prime example of appreciation of »constructed landscapes«. In what became a very personal project for the artist, he chose some of Le Corbusier’s less well known edifices. The Maison la Roche (1923–1925) which was built for banquier and collector Raoul La Roche both as a villa and to house his art collection. The Maison Planeix (1928) originally served as a workshop for the sculptor Antonin Planeix. The Villa Savoye (1931) was planned as a country retreat for the Savoye family. The Cité de Refuge (1933) has been used by the French Salvation Army since its completion. And the only industrial building by Le Corbusier, the Usine Duval (1951), used to be a knitware factory.

The resulting photographs reveal the intensive dialogue between Guidi and Le Corbusier. Instead of showing the buildings as a whole the rooms and the geometry of the buildings are conceivable only through the close ups that Guido Guidi constantly varies. In these he concentrates on the materials and the colors of the surfaces that are marked by signs of use. Instead of lingering on the surface of the symbolic, Guidi reveals the traces of Le Corbusier’s conceptions, helping us to decrypt the great architect’s heritage.

Courtesy: Guido Guidi and Kehrer Galerie in cooperation with 1/9 unosunove.