Vom 2. Oktober bis 1. November 2014 zeigt die Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie, Zürich  in einer Einzelausstellung Fotografien des in Zürich lebenden Schweizer Fotografen Peter Hebeisen aus seiner aktuellen Werkserie  20TH CENTURY EUROPEAN BATTLEFIELDS. 

Ausstellungsdauer: 3. Oktober bis 1. November 2014

Eröffnung: Donnerstag, 2. Oktober, 18 – 20 Uhr

Den Schrecken des industriellen Krieges darstellen – Wie nahe muss man herangehen? Wie viel Elend und Tod muss man zeigen? Der Schweizer Fotograf Peter Hebeisen (* 1956) wählte für seine Serie über europäische Schlachtfelder des 20. Jahrhunderts den konträren Weg, er trat einen Schritt zurück: Großformatige, in der Tradition der romantischen Landschaftsmalerei stehende Tableaus von Verdun, Stalingrad oder Sara­jewo zeigen die Sicht des Schlachtenlenkers hoch zu Ross auf militärstrategische Schlüsselpositionen. Um die Feldherrnperspektive einzufangen, wurde die Ka­mera etwa 3 Meter über dem Erdboden postiert, symbolhaft distanziert – die Generalität agierte bru­tal, mit traumatischen Folgen für Generationen. Über 40 000 Kilometer legte Peter Hebeisen zurück, um zu den Kampfplätzen mit den größten Opferzahlen zu gelangen, von der französischen Atlantikküste bis weit nach Russland hinein. Seine Neuvermessung Eu­ropas ruft die Unfassbarkeit der Geschehnisse in Erin­nerung und bewahrt die historische Erfahrung, die diese Orte bergen.

Zur Ausstellung erscheint im Hatje Cantz Verlag das Buch von Peter Hebeisen 20th Century European Battlefields.

http://www.hatjecantz.de/peter-hebeisen-6162-0.html

http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/schlachtfelder-des-20-jahrhunderts-fotografien-von-peter-hebeisen-a-985131.html

Peter Hebeisen “20th Century European Battlefields”

Opening: Thursday 2 October 6 – 8 p.m.

Exhibition dates: 3 October until 1 November 2014

The Fabian & Claude Walter Gallery in Zurich is presenting an extensive solo exhibition dedicated to photographer Peter Hebeisen, featuring pictures from his „20th Century European Battlefields“ series.

The exhibition coincides with the launch of the book entitled „20th Century European Battlefields“ by Peter Hebeisen, published by Hatje Cantz.

In order to expose the horrors of industrialized war, how close do you have to get? How much suffering and death do you have to show?

For his series on twentieth-century European battlefields, the Swiss artist Peter Hebeisen (*1956) chose a contradictory plan of action: he took a step back. Photographed from the standpoint of the generals on horseback, high above strategically key military positions, his large-format tableaux of Verdun, Stalingrad, or Sarajevo echo Romantic landscape paintings. This large-scale project is a new photographic survey of Europe and takes a new approach to remembering how incomprehensible these events were.

How did the project come about?

„My intention was to find the theaters of war and visualize them in unconventional ways. In terms of time, I decided to limit myself to the twentieth century, which has gone down in history as the age of industrialized war, with around 160 million victims.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were sent off to slaughter without a shred of remorse. Together, a historian and I researched more than one thousand sites where military conflicts occurred. We narrowed the selection down to the most significant battles. It turned out that the project could not be done from an airplane. Instead, I bought myself a minibus and wound up driving forty thousand kilometers for this project. At each site I tried to imagine the battle happening before my eyes, and got to know the landscape with the help of military maps.

The most important thing was to find the right position for the camera, the one that I felt would do the most justice to events.“ Peter Hebeisen

What was it like to work on the project?

„All of the photos were shot from a height of about three-and-a-half meters above the ground, often with a view stretching across the entire terrain. I looked for landscapes that were marked by violence and haunted by tragedy, and yet, at first glance, not a single trace of the horror could be seen.“ Peter Hebeisen.

Please contact the gallery for illustrations and further information about the exhibition. We would very much appreciate an article or a reference to the exhibition and the „20th Century European Battlefields“ series by Peter Hebeisen in the format of your choice.

http://www.hatjecantz.de/peter-hebeisen-6162-1.html