I paid a visit to the James Casebere retrospective in Haus der Kunst on Monday – the Haus der Kunst do regular parent and baby tours (in German), and it was a fantastic insight into the photographer’s work.
Born in 1953 in the suburbs of Detroit, the artist is the other half of Lorna Simpson, who also exhibited in Haus der Kunst last year.
Casebere had started to study architecture, before he began taking photos of self-made architectural models in the mid-1970s. His early works are a lot simpler – the famous oversized fork leaning on a fridge, for example. Since then, he’s developed his models considerably – they’re still most definitely models, not the real deal, but the attention to detail is impressive, and he edits the digital images only minimally.
Most of his works are political – focusing on incarceration in the United States, bourgeois America and the American Dream in times of economic difficulties, and the peaceful coexistence of religions in history.
The exhibition also features the artists’ newest works, models of the Haus der Kunst, in works that reflects the building’s National Socialist past.
The exhibition (of over fifty of his works) runs until June 12, and it’s well worth a visit. English tours will be held on March 18, and April 8 and 22 at 6:30pm, costing just 2 €.
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