Bürgerfeste

Democracy—Power—Confusion

Ernst Wilhelm Grüter, Ulrich Grüter, Simon Menner

In their works, the artists Ernst Wilhelm Grüter, Ulrich Grüter, and Simon Menner address ideas of fortification and democracy.

While the autodidact Ernst Wilhelm Grüter’s photographs capture pictures of everyday life in the context of urban, social, and political conditions to create a synthesis of documentary and subjective perspectives, Ulrich Grüter deliberately creates documentary forgeries by combining different events in his triptychs. In the process, and without taking sides, he manages to show the potential risks arising in the ideological confrontation between different forces. On the other hand, the works of Simon Menner address the discrepancy between reality and visual assertion. “Our perception has become the decisive battlefield of the twenty-first century. Whether terrorists, intelligence agencies, or military, they all aim to influence us so that we act contrary to our own interests. Fear generated by invisible threats is the method of choice.”