Extremely Normal

Artists

Norman Behrendt
Jakob Ganslmeier
Ludwig Rauch
Mykola Ridnyi
Alex Gerbaulet & Mareike Bernien
Ewa Einhorn
belit sağ

Curators

Tereza Rudolf
Elisabeth Pichler
Markéta Mansfieldová

Opening

8 Sep 2022 6 pm

The exhibition continues

9 Sep – 22 Oct 2022

Venue

Fotograf Gallery
Jungmannova 7, Prague 1
Tue–Fri, 1–7 pm; Sat, 11 am–7 pm
www.fotografgallery.cz

The exhibition “Extremely Normal” is dedicated to the ambivalence of visual representations of far-right violence. The visual stereotype of the “far-right outlaw” seems to be outdated as it does not grasp the vast extent of the current manifestations of affiliation with extreme nationalist and right-wing policies. Nonetheless, the portrayal of far-right hooligans or protesters is prevalent, especially in the journalistic approach – even if this repetition of stereotypes, poses, and gestures might limit the idea of who the actors and backers of the scene are. Moreover, the victims and those affected by far-right violence are often out of focus and become voiceless.

The artists in the exhibition deploy different artistic strategies and media-reflexive approaches to come to terms with the far right by visual means and to recognize the often troubling commonalities of reference, uncanny familiarity, and structural racism that our societies are complicit with.

A photo series by Ludwig Rauch from the early 1990s provides an insight into a documentary approach at a time when racist attacks in the recently unified Germany reached an extreme peak and the media coverage of these violent events was omnipresent. Presented as a slideshow with voice-over commentary, Rauch withdraws his images from a purely voyeuristic gaze and allows them to become all the more a document of their time.

Thirty years later and with the frightening certainty that racist violence in Germany is not over but had only gone unnoticed (and covered up) by the broad public and politics, photographer Jakob Ganslmeier chooses a different documentary approach. In his series “Haut, Stein” (Skin, Stone), he focuses on the often ambiguous possibility of transformation. The portrayed in his larger-than-life photographs are in the lengthy process of getting rid of their ideological tattoos after leaving the right-wing extremist scene; the architecture depicted by Ganslmeier, on the other hand, still bears traces of Nazi ideology despite the so-called denazification.

The entry of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, Alternative for Germany) into the German Parliament in 2017 and its subsequent rise to become the strongest party in the regional parliaments in the Czech-German border regions speaks of the increasing normalisation of extremist thinking. Photographer Norman Behrendt examines the party’s social media imagery and media coverage and contrasts the constant flux of volatile images with the laborious technique of cyanotype. Through selection, editing, alienation and recomposition, a visual language becomes visible that can only be read as partially extreme because it also aims to appeal to the moderate citizen.

Concerned with the rise of the far right in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries, Mykola Ridnyi addresses his discomfort with the lack of awareness regarding its presence in the public sphere. The pieces of chewing gum in his work oscillate between disrespect and ignorance, and can only superficially cover the symbols of groups and initiatives known for their pertinent affiliation with the extreme right. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in the spring of 2022 drastically changed the context and led the artist to actualize his work and change focus by adding two new Russian military symbols to the series.

The widespread disregard of the right-wing extremist threat but even more the lack of empathy for its victims is the focus of various video works developed by the initiatives Offener Prozess and NSU Tribunal. A selection of these is made accessible for the first time in a Czech context: the short films by Mareike Bernien & Alex Gerbaulet, Ewa Einhorn and belit sağ contrast the (sole) perpetrator orientation and decipher more complex realms of the unprecedented series of racist murders the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terrorist network, has committed throughout Germany between 2000 and 2006.

In an accompanying public event, artist and activist Tomáš Rafa gives an insight into his long-term visual investigations of the extreme right with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2009, Rafa has been recording their manifestations in public space and also actively engaging in anti-discriminatory projects.

Artists

Ludwig Rauch: Rechtsruck, 1991–93, 2016

In the German post-reunification period, Ludwig Rauch photographed members of the neo-Nazi scene, some of whom are still active today. At that time, not yet aware of the media impact, they granted the photographer unexpectedly deep insights into their everyday lives. The “props” of extreme right-wing, racist violence–baseball bat, bald head, bomber jacket, Springer boots–became a symbol, a cliché, which is still prevalent today. Rauch's photographs reflect exactly that image of the East German Nazi family. However, the presentation of his series as a slide show with a voice-over commentary by art historian Michael Freitag, removes the images from purely aestheticizing observation and adds another level to the work: inviting us to reflect on temporality and past contemporaneity and what the images tell us today.

Ludwig Rauch (born in Leipzig in 1960) grew up in the former GDR and studied photography with Arno Fischer. Despite the GDR-wide ban on publication, he extensively documented the socialist state and the period of transition and transformation which followed it. The selected series focuses on the part of his work dedicated to the documentary form of his early career.

ludwig-rauch.com

Jakob Ganslmeier: Haut, Stein, 2019

“Haut, Stein” [Skin, Stone] by Jakob Ganslmeier is a series of photographs in two parts: one part consists of colour portraits of individuals who are in the lengthy process of removing ideologically loaded tattoos from their bodies as part of their breaking-away from the far-right extremist scene. The second part are black and white diptychs depicting historic Nazi symbols that remain visibly embedded in urban and rural architecture and public spaces despite the so-called denazification, repainting, or other interventions. Both series show traces of swastikas, particular runes, portraits of soldiers and the like. By juxtaposing these symbols on skin and stone, removed or reworked but preserved to a certain extent, Ganslmeier creates a tension between an individual and collective memory and responsibility for reappraisal of history.

Jakob Ganslmeier is a photographer whose interests lie in long-term documentary projects. Based on intensive research, he questions topics such as memorial culture and collective memory, extremism and its media imagery. To this end, he often involves the protagonists of his investigations in the creation of the images.

jakobganslmeier.com

Norman Behrendt: Schwarz, Rot, Braun, 2022

“Schwarz, Rot, Braun” [Black, Red, Brown], a selection from Behrendt’s broader visual investigation “Alternative, 2019–20”, explores how the rise of the far-right in Germany is portrayed in social media. Themes such as patriotism, Euroscepticism and Islamophobia are invoked as well as the notion of strong leaders and the heteronormative nuclear family. Selecting, reproducing and rearranging these images from openly accessible digital sources, like YouTube channels and Facebook profiles, the artist highlights political development, transmission and manipulation through pixelated, transient and recycled images. By presenting his unique and manually toned cyanotypes in a grid of 7 x 5, Behrendt gives visitors an insight into an imagery which otherwise exists only in their subconscious.

Led by an interest in how politics and social change manifest in the visual realm, Berlin-based photographer Norman Behrendt combines documentary and conceptual approaches with a special dedication to image composition and its technical implementation and editing.

normanbehrendt.com

Mykola Ridnyi: Facing the Wall, 2018

Mykola Ridnyi’s project “It’s not a…” addresses the violence instigated by right-wing extremists and right-wing populists. In the series “Facing the Wall”, the artist covers the symbols of right-wing radical organizations, some of them from Ukraine, Russia and Poland, with sticky chewing gum–associated with youth culture and its carefree lifestyles. Ridnyi deploys the chewing gum as a symbol for an unwillingness to assume responsibility for one’s actions and cultural or ideological immaturity. What could possibly go wrong with chewing gum or the ‘playful’ and capricious fascination with right-wing imagery and symbolism? Ridnyi’s work suggests that chewing gum eventually hardens into a fairly durable substance. Something similar can happen with ideology as long as it is not questioned. Mykola Ridnyi works across media ranging from early collective actions in public space to the amalgam of site-specific installations and sculpture, photography, and moving image. He experiments with nonlinear montage and collage of documentary and fiction. His reflections on the social and political reality deal with the rise and international interconnection of right-wing extremism in Europe. mykolaridnyi.com

Tomas Rafa: New Nationalism, 2010–present

Since 2010, Tomáš Rafa has been investigating notions of nationalism in Central Europe through his ongoing online video archive “New Nationalism”. Travelling between Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, the project details the emergence of conflicts that arise from prejudices, superstitions, and resentments in the region. Featuring tense footage of political demonstrations, blockades, and protests, Rafa captures events that often go unnoticed by the mainstream media. His stirring portraits of the resurgence of extreme right-wing, xenophobic, and neofascist groups in the region, are meant to trigger awareness and lead to conversations about the actual condition of society.

Tomáš Rafa is an artist and documentary filmmaker who focuses on displays of racism and xenophobia through photographs and videos. His work explores patriotism, nationalism, and the rise of the far right in the Visegrad countries and beyond.

your-art.sk

Unravelling the NSU complex

From 2000 onwards the “National Socialist Underground” (NSU), a neo-Nazi terrorist network, carried out an unprecedented series of murders across Germany. For a long time–until the terrorist core cell exposed itself in 2011–the interpretive horizon of the media, politicians and the authorities did not consider racist motives. The investigations were without exception directed against the victims themselves and their family members, ignoring hints and statements by the witnesses suggesting white and presumably racist perpetrators.

A selection of videos, developed by initiatives and individuals, activist and artists, working in solidarity with those targeted by the series of murders and attacks by the NSU identify blind spots within the investigation and shed light on the racist conditions that allow right-wing networks to grow and make their actions possible in the first place.

Mareike Bernien & Alex Gerbaulet: Depth of Field, 2017

A flower stand, a tailor shop, a snack car: three places in the German city of Nuremberg that became crime scenes between 2000 and 2005 when the “National Socialist Underground” murdered three independent business owners with migrant backgrounds. With its image axis repeatedly tilting and tipping out of frame, “Depth of Field” examines these three places and observes the abysmal depth of the racially motivated murders, contextualizing the scenes of the crimes and showing how they are used and re-used today. The off-screen commentary describes ordinary scenes and encounters, interweaving them with compressed fragments of information from racist media coverage and murder investigations.

Ewa Einhorn: "What would Nazis never do?", 2017

In 2013, appearing before the NSU inquiry committee, the chief investigator declared: “I have never seen a neo-Nazi on a bicycle.” Ewa Einhorn’s short film "What would Nazis never do?" takes the on-the-record but neglected evidence of cyclists that were seen on site in many of the NSU crime scenes as its starting point: By interviewing a number of passers-by about their thoughts on the means of transport used by neo-Nazis, she addresses the prevailing perceptions and stereotypes in society that play their part in masking the everydayness of racism.

belit sağ: cut-out, 2018

What can the picture of a victim from a criminal record tell us? The short film “cut-out” by belit sağ tries to answer this question. It takes a closer look at the pictures of husbands, sons and brothers that mourning relatives gave to the police. belit sağ provides a commentary on the special edits of each picture and sticks other narratives onto them. This way we can see what we were shown, what we should have seen and what we could see instead. Thinking about this opens a space full of possibilities that could create new spheres of socialising, connection, and empathy.