Alois Jurkowitsch | Rudolf Klaffenböck | Georg E. Thuringer

Passau

27.06. – 14.08.2015

The photographic perception of Passau shown by Alois Jurkowitsch, Rudolf Klaffenböck and Georg. A. Thuringer, is artistically astute and simultaneously documentary.

Alois Jurkowitsch shows in the Soiz gallery black and white works from his series 'Hausmeisterkunst' (janitors' art) which was produced mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. As an assistant to an architectural historian, Jurkowitsch could access deserted buildings in the Old Town of Passau which were to be either demolished or renovated. 'Sunk in deep sleep, I found a world of modern history combined with the medievil ages,' Jurkowitsch says about this cosmos of makeshift walls where electric cables and gas pipes covered in layers of paint, tape and plaster have mushroomed, sinks and toilets in corridors, cupboards and drawers overflowing with a medley of bits and pieces. The photographer has produced technically exacting photos with his large-format camera and at the same time a documentary of Passau's architectural history.

Rudolf Klaffenböck takes a subtly whimsical view of  the Old Town of Passau and also the election campaign and 'Herbstdult' (autumn beer festival). Poetically misty contemplative works are also being shown in the Soiz gallery. The people in his photographs appear approachable owing to the fact that the photographer has kept his distance and watched rather than stage-managed with the camera.The exhibition shows well-known performers during appearances in Passau: the singer and actress Ute Lemper or the now dead political satirist, Dieter Hildebrandt. These black and white photographs have been produced over a period of forty years, the most recent are from 2014.

The digital photomontages by Georg A. Thuringer are a contrast to the analogue works by Jurkowitsch and Klaffenböck. He also sees himself as a documentarist of the town when, for example, he floods the Passau alleyways with faceless people. Although obviously faked, his large-scale works consequently prove themselves to be honest.

'I show things as they could be or could become,' say Thuringer. 'It is left to the viewer to decide whether they reflect reality or are ironic exaggerations.'

In the series 'Postkarten aus Passau' (postcards from Passau), Thuringer leads the viewer to supposedly banal places: a forest glade, a company premises or a front door. They summon us to fathom the context of the story.