Feature: Wim Wenders: Places, strange and quiet at Haunch of Venison until May 14
Published: 21 April, 2011
by JOHN EVANS
‘Wet photography’ strange and quiet
FROM the cult film-maker who brought us masterpieces such as Wings of Desire and Paris, Texas here is an opportunity to admire his acclaimed still photography.
Wim Wenders’ first such London show for eight years – Places, strange and quiet – runs until May 14.
As its title suggests, there are few people involved in the images in this show, the latest in a series of international exhibitions of his work which began in the mid-1980s.
When individuals do appear they are often loners: a policeman in Germany, rodeo clown in Australia, a sunbather in Italy. But mostly its landscapes, wastescapes, buildings.
There are a few black and white prints, too, some even from the 1970s. One of the most striking is the haunting Twin graves and drive-in cinema, Marfa, Texas (edition of 12) pictured.
The twins in question are Timothy and Jason Castillo and the date of their demise is marked as 1/28/80. In a gallery setting should we wish to know more?
When Wenders last exhibited here in 2003, the late actor and artist Dennis Hopper was asked about his friend’s work. He said: “Wim’s photos all have a similar feel, this same feeling of absence and loneliness. And then the scale is so magnificent – the detail is just superb. I call it wet photography – it’s so slick.”
This view elegantly sums up, and holds true for the new show which brings together 40 images from Wenders’s travels, from Brazil, Japan, Germany, the US, Australia and more.
In one startling room we see C-print images, each three or four metres wide, from Armenia. At one end a monastery wall; at the other letters of the country’s unique alphabet arranged as sculptures on a hillside (Armenian Alphabet, 2008 pictured). At right angles to this is another scene of death, a country cemetery where local custom is to imprint a large photograph of the deceased on the headstone; finally, on facing walls, two images of the same ferris wheel in a stark landscape one a “reverse angle” shot.
Wenders says: “Every picture tells a story. Sometimes only the reverse angle tells the truth.”
• Wim Wenders: Places, strange and quiet, is at Haunch of Venison, 6 Burlington Gardens, W1, until May 14. Free admission. www. haunchofvenison.com