Barbara and Michael Leisgen
In the 1970s, the early works of Barbara & Michael Leisgen came as a counterpoint to conceptual photography, notably led by the typological school of Bernd & Hilla Becher in Düsseldorf. The different works illustrated hereunder are part of the Mimesis series, located in practices in operation since the early 1960s : the recording of a natural trace, research concerning the body and experiments related to Land Art. Barbara Leisgen’s silhouette is set, and leaves its fleeting trace in landscapes; the actions involve stretching out her arms to follow the contours of undulating countryside (the Paysage mimétique and Mimesis series), or to include the sun in an arc drawn by her arm while she is seen from behind in the center of the image. This is not merely imitating nature through its gestures; it describes, in the sense of tracing, and channels it as well. The (re)appropriation of the landscape is subjective, the silhouette of Barbara Leisgen being displayed in the landscape, inscribing its mark therein is ephemeral.
Barbara and Michael Leisgen's work is discussed and mentioned in numerous publications, including "Feminism Art Theory: An Anthology 1968 - 2014" (2015) by Hilary Robinson, "Video Art Historicized: Traditions and Negotiations (Studies in Art Historiography)" by Malin Hedlin Hayden (2015), "Une introduction a l'art contemporain" by Philippe Coubetergues (2005), "Le Corps photographié" by Jean-Paul Blanchet, Dimitri Konstantinidis, ... (1996), "Le sentiment de paysage à la fin du XXème siècle" by Bernard Ceysson (1977), "Chroniques de l'Art Vivant" (1974), etc.
Their work has been the subject of many publications - mostly in conjunction with exhibitions, such as "Les Ecritures du Soleil (Sonnenschriften)" (1978), "Die Ägyptische Wand" (1980), "Stellungsspiel" (1987), "De la beauté usée : Barbara et Michael Leisgen, [exposition, Paris, Maison européenne de la photographie, 10 septembre-9 novembre 1997]" (1997), "Kunst-Landschaft 1969-2000" (2000), "Zeitsprung" (2000), and "Positions" (2006), amidst others.
The pictures recall the visions of German Romanticism, notably the pictures of Caspar David Friedrich - his painting Morgenlicht (image) being the figurative model for the Leisgen's Mime-sis works, although Friedrich's paradigm for considering nature as sacred is amended. One might see this as an anthropocentric romantic perspective such as the French Romantic view gave us.
And yet, despite the sublime aspect of the photographed scenes and the preciousness of the prints which, beyond black and white, allow us to imagine a range of colors in the dazzling light, their images also refer back to the naivety and intrinsic nostalgia of souvenir photographs. The actual viewer is placed in a specular perception, being led to look at a woman posing in a natural expanse. By doing so, Barbara & Michael Leisgen are the precursors of current landscape approaches, relying simultaneously on a modernist and postmodernist viewpoint.
Understanding the significance of German artist couple Barbara and Michael Leisgen calls for understanding another German artist couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher. Based in Düsseldorf, the Bechers were conceptual photographers best known for their “typologies;” black-and-white photographs of imposing industrial structures. In the 1970s, the Leisgens’ emerging practice, characterized by the use of natural elements, was seen as a reaction to the so-called Becher school.
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Publications
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THE SUN PLACED IN THE ABYSS exhibition catalogue
Drew Sawyer, published by the Columbus Museum of Art, CMoA, Columbus, Ohio
october 2016texts by Drew Sawyer, Jordan Bear, Tyler Cann, and Kris Paulsen
approx. 8.7 by 8.7 in. (ca. 22 by 22 cm)
The Sun Placed in the Abyss brings together the work of more than 45 artists who, since 1970, have used the sun as a subject to explore the historical, social and technological conditions of photography, both still and moving.
hardcover, 99 pages, illustrations (some in color)
isbn: 978-0-91888173-1
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POSITIONS
published by Artiscope, Brussels, Belgium
limited to 1000 copies
may 2006
approx. 8.75 by 9.25 in. (ca. 22,2 by 23,5 cm)texts by Laurent Busine, artistic director Musée des Arts Contemporains, MACs, (Grand-Hornu, Bossu, Belgium) and Luk Lambrecht, curator and art critic.
hardcover w/ dust jacket, 96 pages
isbn-10: 905779089
isbn-13: 978-9057790898
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ZEITSPRUNG exhibition catalogue
published by Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany
German, French, English
february 2000
approx. 10.6 by 9.4 in. (ca. 27 by 24 cm)texts by Wolfgang Becker, artistic director Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany; published to accompany the February 18 to April 24, 2000 “Zeitsprung” exhibition at the Ludwig Forum in Aachen, Germany.
softcover, 111 pages, illustrations (some in color)
no isbn
Exhibitions
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THE SUN PLACED IN THE ABYSS
October 7, 2016 - January 8, 2017
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART, Columbus, Ohio
Curated by Drew Sawyer
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BARBARA AND MICHAEL LEISGEN: LICHTSPIEL
September 9 - October 7, 2016