The group exhibition Über das Fotografische hinaus (Beyond the Photographic) is dedicated to the light graphics works of art photographer Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898–1983), and brings them into dialogue with contemporary pioneers. Hajek-Halke is one of the most important experimental German art photographers of the twentieth century. With the invention of light graphics in 1951, which is created without a camera and in the darkroom, he pushed the boundaries of photographic technology’s ability to achieve abstraction, while influencing a generation of experimental photographers. To what extent is this technique still relevant today, and what does an abstract image mean in the digital age?

The exhibition, curated by Mathilde Leroy in collaboration with Simone Klein of Cologne, presents these light graphics in a contemporary context. In addition to analogue photograms by Jana Dillo and Hanno Otten, digital collages by Daisuke Yokota and computer-generated body paintings by Banz & Bowinkel can be discovered, as well as individual software – also known as custom software – by Casey Reas.