Asger Carlsen Hester 1.02.2013 – 16.03.2016 EN DE DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM is proud to present the first solo exhibition in Germany by New York based artist Asger Carlsen, HESTER, opening Thursday, January 31st from 6 – 8 PM. Carlsen will present a selection of black and white photographs from the 23 part series, eerily traditional yet distinctly contemporary in technique. The exhibiton will include 11 intimately scaled 70 x 48 cm prints, as well as 4 works at a new large scale, true to life. essay EN DE ESTELLE BLASCHKE By ANATOMICAL GAMES The Danish artist Asger Carlsen (b. 1973; lives in New York) takes pictures that provoke conflicting responses in their beholders: they are as repugnant as they are beautiful. In the artist’s 23-part series “Hester,” human bodies appear to have been molded into fleshy surreal amalgamates. lt is as though we were peering into Frankenstein’s workshop: arms and legs have been twisted and mutilated; slender or bulky and lumpy body parts have been assembled ha­phazardly. Some of the bodies in these photographs have no limbs at all-what remains are torsos, and it is difficult to tel1 where, say, the abdomen ends and the back begins, which is the front and which the back, what is above and what below. What all these bodies lack is the head. They are anonymous beings. Stripped of their identities, they are distinguished only by the black or white color of their skin, their muscular or obese build, and small details such as birthmarks dotting their skin or painted toenails. As abs­tract figurations, movable pieces of humanity, the bodies pose for the photographer in front of a white backdrop, in a variety of different rooms: some have been placed on a table or a ehest of drawers, others stand or lie on a wood or stone floor. The occasional paint spatter on the floor and traces of duct tape on the walls suggest that the pictures were taken at an artist’s studio. READ MORE Asger Carlsen, HESTER (22), 2012, pigment print, Edition 1/5, 78 x 60 cm Asger Carlsen, HESTER (01), 2012, pigment print, Edition 1/5, 78 x 60 cm instagram facebook OPENING HOURS Mon-Sat: 11.00AM — 6.00PM CONTACT DETAILS Dittrich & Schlechtriem ConceptStore GmbH Linienstrasse 23, 10178 Berlin, Germany Phone +493024342462 info@dittrich-schlechtriem.com