Jetzt, Berlin – A photographic essay
Maria Sewcz
In the exhibition project "Jetzt, Berlin" (Now, Berlin), Maria Sewcz deals with the theme of the city in a narrower sense. Urbanity, the tense relationship between the built, the grown and the lived are at the centre of her artistic work. At the same time, the artist is concerned with the photographic transformation of her personal experience. "Now" describes the period of photographic exploration of this work - which, however, has already passed at the moment of realisation.
After a year studying at the Villa Massimo in Rome, Maria Sewcz returned to Berlin in 2012. This was the time for the artist to scrutinise Berlin anew as a city of permanent change. The city's provisional character challenged her to see the city anew and to visualise the temporal levels that can be experienced in a state of transition.
During her city walks, Maria Sewcz deliberately sought out places where changes were taking place. The resulting photographs, which are also meaningful as individual images, are condensed into an essay in the compilation. Like fragments, the images catch the eye and at the same time create an expanded meaning in their selected totality. An attempt to understand the complexity of the world in the context of time.
Maria Sewcz (*1960 in Schwerin) studied photography at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig under Arno Fischer and graduated as a master student of Timm Rautert. She became known early on for her photographic project "inter esse" (Berlin 1985-87).
The artist has received prestigious awards, including the Hannah Höch Prize of the State of Berlin and a scholarship from the German Academy in Rome.
Her works are represented in important collections such as the Photography Collection, LACMA, Los Angeles, the DZ BANK Collection, Frankfurt am Main and the Photographic Collection of the Berlinische Galerie.
