It Is What It Is
René Habermacher & Jannis Tsipoulanis

July 2 to August 6, 2005

Curator: Alexandra Strüven

artMbassy gallery is pleased to present the Swiss-Greek photographer duo René Habermacher and Jannis Tsipoulanis with their first solo exhibition.

The photographs presented in the exhibition It Is What It Is are a reflective dialogue with the exhibition Monument to Now by the Dakis Joannou Collection in Athens, one of the world’s largest private collections of contemporary art. Dakis Joannou made it possible for René Habermacher and Jannis Tsipoulanis to interact with the contemporary masterpieces presented in his collection. A series of pictures emerged presenting the model Natasa Vojnovic with art works by Jeff Koons, Martin Kippenberger, Sue Webster & Tim Noble, Takashi Murakami, Maurizio Cattelan, Janine
Antoni and Cady Noland.

The works of René Habermacher and Jannis Tsipoulanis gain intensity from multiple levels of significance. On the one hand, they are documentary in nature, reproducing works of art as independent media in their own right, and making them available for direct consumption through publication in Vogue. The compositions are arranged as if for the stage: lighting, design, choreography, and dramatic content appear as if they were taken directly out of a novel. This form of presentation draws on the classic artistic modes of historical iconography. Beyond their playful approach to the subject matter, the two photographers do justice to the intents and backgrounds of
the artists they present.

The resulting photographs are independent new works of art that pose many questions: Art or Fashion? Culture or Commerce? Appropriation or Art-napping?

A catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition with contributions from different authors: Corey d’Augustine, New York, journalist and conservator for contemporary art at the Museum of Modern Art; Mateo Kries, Berlin, director of the Vitra Design Museums Weil am Rhein and Berlin and curator of the „Le Corbusier“ exhibition in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and New York; and Jonathan Wingfield, Paris, journalist and editor in charge of Numéro Magazin.

Alexandra Strueven
Curator– artMbassy Berlin

Exhibitions (Selection)
1998 GenArt, New York; 2003 Parco Museum Tokyo and Nagoya – Japan; 2004 x-care Taipeh – Taiwan; 2004 Olympic Issue Vogue Hellas and Naomi Campbell – Athens; 2004 150 Jahre Louis Vuitton in München. www.reneandjannis.com,
www.it-is-what-it-is.com

For more information and images please contact the gallery.
Alexandra.Strueven@artMbassy.com

Vita/ exhibitions/ René Habermacher & Jannis Tsipoulanis

by Chiara Erika Marzi