It's Not Me, It's A Photograph. Elina Brotherus

About

In her photographs and films, the Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus deals with her own biography, the landscape genre, and art history in a consistent yet diverse way. She explores the possibilities of photographic self-dramatization while frequently referring to icons of nineteenth- and twentieth-century painting or, as she does in her recent works, to contemporary art of the 1960s and 1970s. As an artist, actor, or extra, Brotherus poses the essential questions of life—at times with a wink, at times in all seriousness. These questions revolve around identity, love, loneliness, loss, self-knowledge, and self-empowerment.

As an artist, actor, or extra, Brotherus poses the essential questions of life—at times with a wink, at times in all seriousness. These questions revolve around identity, love, loneliness, loss, self-knowledge, and self-empowerment.

Wholeheartedly and with great rigor, she delves into recurring motifs, varying them and thus heightening our awareness of details and nuances—in terms of both content and form. The human figure—whether in intimate interiors or in sprawling landscapes—is a point of reference and identification. Often the biographical and documentary dimensions of her work are relegated to the background in favor of the fictional, rendering reality a narrative: We are no longer looking at Brotherus; we are looking at her photographs. The artist becomes a projection screen for the beholders, allowing for individualized readings of her images.

Brotherus’s landscape photographs captivate viewers with their compositional simplicity and nuanced color schemes. Taking a page from Romantic painting, they present nature as an emotionally charged place of yearning.

In her most recent series, Règle du Jeu, the artist treads new ground: Mixing Appropriation Art with Reenactment, she tackles Fluxus, an art form from the 1960s that foregrounds creative ideas and the unity of art and life.

Like Rinko Kawauchi (2015) and Martin Parr (2016) before her, Elina Brotheus has also created a new work group on Kunsthaus Wien’s invitation, premiering in this exhibition. This new series examines works by VALIE EXPORT, Erwin Wurm, and other Austrian artists.

Elina Brotherus was born in Helsinki in 1972. She received her Master of Arts degree in photography from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2000 and her Master of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Helsinki in 1997. Since 1997, she has been exhibiting her work internationally in renowned institutions, most recently Règle du Jeu at the Centre Pompidou. Her works are part of numerous international collections such as those of Centre Pompidou, Paris, Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Museum Folkwang, Essen, and Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne.

Eight monographic catalogues have been published about her work. Brotherus has received numerous awards, among them the Prix Mosaïque (Luxemburg, 2001), the Prix Niépce (France, 2005), the Finnish State Prize for Photography (2008), and the Carte blanche PMU (France, 2017). Brotherus lives and works in Helsinki, Finland, and Avallon, France.In her photographs and films, the Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus deals with her own biography, the landscape genre, and art history in a consistent yet diverse way. She explores the possibilities of photographic self-dramatization while frequently referring to icons of nineteenth- and twentieth-century painting or, as she does in her recent works, to contemporary art of the 1960s and 1970s.