The Centro Cultural Fundación Unicaja in Málaga is hosting a new exhibition of photographs by Hubertus von Hohenlohe entitled '15 minutes of fame'.
Curated by Isolina Arbulú, the exhibition brings together a selection of photographs, always in large format, which the artist has collected over the years, and which represent a journey through the vibrant urban colours, fame and advertising messages that invade our space. The artist insolently and brazenly appropriates everything that surrounds us, becoming the observer of the spectator.
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I'll keep playing the game until everybody remembers my name
In the emblematic Centro Cultural Fundación Unicaja in Málaga and under the organisation of Fundación Unicaja, the artist Hubertus von Hohenlohe presents 50 large-format works under the title "15 minutes of fame". The exhibition begins with a series of photographs in rooms one and two, where under the phrase "I'll keep playing the game until everybody remembers my name" the artist's relationship with the fame surrounding his name and that of his family is intuited. Hubertus decides to become his own paparazzi, initiating a style of photography in which protagonist, observer and scenario merge into one. A series of photographs in the form of a family album contextualize a life of privileges and adventures that mark the starting point of an unusual artist. -
Desperately searching for myself
In the third room "Desperately searching far myself" the artist's imperious need to reclaim his place in the world is revealed, Hubertus brazenly and almost arrogantly infiltrates his photographs like an uninvited voyeur, creating a play of overlapping layers and colours where the person is diluted, lost and at the same time enraptured by the environment that surrounds and captivates him. The urban context becomes the frame in which the artist explores and moves, seeking his particular harmony within the perpetua! flow of the city. -
The who is who inside of me
Fame is the new promised paradise and we all feel entitled to reach this new nirvana, and so, with this leitmotiv in the fourth room, Hubertus exhibits his portraits. "Who is who inside of me". Film, fashion, folklore and sports personalities compete with the artist for those minutes of glory. By infiltrating his photographs, he questions who is really the protagonist, who really deserves this altar of admiration and veneration that we call fame? Hubertus presents these characters, who have earned the heaven of our new culture, by appropriating and crashing its party. Hubertus' portraits create with extraordinary force, a world of reflections that suggests to us that everything we see is an illusion. -
Creating my own advertising campaigns
Announcing his life as if it were a product for sale, the flfth room of the museum becomes an advertisement, a dark room where the vibrant colours of the city, the lights and the movement create a captivating space where the artist loses himself in a sort of almost sacred collages; the venerated saints are ourselves, our ego, our image. The iconography of movies and advertising surrender to the repeated image of the artist who elevates his figure almost to the altars of narcissism. Hubertus plays with our perception of the world and invites us to rethink who our new gods are. A clock-sculpture marks the passage of time surrounded by timeless characters, inviting us to witness our own mortality. -
I'm a street artist without a street
"l'm a street artist without a street"; this statement, which frames the sixth and last room of the exhibition, encapsulates Hubertus' trajectory. As a result of elitism and a society that does not set foot in the street, the artist claims his place in the mud. He seeks his "street", he craves his place and, without asking permission, he appropriates with his camera of street art. He infiltrates in a shameless and insolent way in every comer, even presenting his vision of Spain through his own experiences, the land that has welcomed him with open arms and with which he merges between images of folklore, fiesta and art. -
Hubertus von Hohenlohe
Hubertus' work is intrinsically and indisputably linked to his person. He travels the world with his camera, capturing moments with apparent spontaneity and a certain flavour of disguised advertising, achieving captivating and attractive images. His way of capturing the moment, not without romanticism, is juxtaposed with a decidedly cheerful and informal aesthetic. Hubertus successfully blends intuition and careful post-production work to reveal a work that is totally playful, fresh and different.
In an age of filters, likes, excessive egos, insolent exhibitionism, overexposure of the self, aesthetic fanaticism and superfluous ambitions, Hubertus von Hohenlohe confronts us with our reality with a crudeness charged with humour and cynicism.