Dirk Brömmel

ABOUT THE WORK

Kopfüber

Using digital techniques, Dirk Brömmel broadens the scope of our perceptions. Kopfüber (English: Headfirst) takes us to lofty heights, where the view seems much clearer. The ships Dirk Brömmel photographs from above are not the main focus, he explains. “For me, it’s about what is hidden on or behind them and making that visible.”

The photographer assembles his “reality” from many individual pictures, isolating the subject and placing it in front of a colourful background. By doing this, he creates a digital image that bends the rules of time and perspective, letting us discover more than would be possible with the naked eye. In Brömmel’s work, ships become models, studies.

MIG

The war is long-since over. Airplanes that once symbolised power have become rusty war monuments. Dirk Brömmel captures the diverse moods these symbols create. They speak of the failures of politics, the population’s hope for a better future, and of a past that won’t loosen its grip on the present.

When exhibited without the context of their surroundings, the aircraft seem like lost ideals. Bolted in place, the terror-inducing effect they had in the air seems almost forgotten. Dirk Brömmel’s pictures tell stories that remain in the collective memory.

To me, photography is the longing to hold something tight, to make thoughts tangible in the form of a picture.
Dirk Brömmel

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in 1968 in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany, Dirk Brömmel grew up on the small island of Grafenwerth on the River Rhine. At age nine, the artist began to photograph his own microcosm. After finishing a photography apprenticeship in 1993, he found his own means of artistic expression while studying art in Mainz, where he discovered all the possibilities inherent in digital image editing.

In his photographs, Brömmel aims to retain “things in their disappearance” while making “the movement of time” visible. A recipient of multiple awards, the artist now lives and works in Wiesbaden, Germany.

TECHNIQUE

Kopfüber

For his Kopfüber series, Dirk Brömmel sets up on bridges spanning rivers. There, he points his lens straight down at the water. In a burst of as many as 60 individual pictures, he captures passing ships in their entirety. Using a computer, he then assembles the pieces into a single image. Finally, he crops out everything apart from the ship, replacing the water with a monochrome background. Exhibited in this way, the ship’s decks seem like detailed and razor-sharp showcases.

Baumüller & Co. AG, Darmstadt, Germany
Deutsche Telekom, Weiden, Germany
E.ON Kunstsammlung, Germany
Europäisches Patentamt, Munich, Germany
EVO Kunstsammlung, Offenbach, Germany
Kirschbaum Verlag, Bonn, Germany
Kunstsammlung des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Kunstsammlung Kupferberg Gold, Mainz, Germany
Kunstsammlung der Stadt Wiesbaden, Germany
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
Lufthansa AERO, Mainz, Germany
Matisse Collection, New York, USA
Sammlung Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Tucher Stiftung, Nürnberg, Germany
Willy Brandt Haus, Berlin, Germany

Solo Exhibitions

2013	»Dirk Brömmel - Kopfüber«, Davis Klemm Gallery, Munich, Germany
	SCOPE Basel, Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Switzerland
	»Dirk Brömmel«, Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg, Germany
	»Dirk Brömmel«, Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg, Germany
2012	»Dirk Brömmel – Kopfüber, Fotocollagen«, Neuffer am Park – Kunsthalle, Pirmasens, Germany
	Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels | contemporary, Wien, Austria
2011	"Villa Tugendhat" - Fotografien von Dirk Brömmel, Dům umění města Brna
	The Brno House of Arts, Brno, Czech Republic
	"Dirk Brömmel - kopfüber", Graffit Gallery, Varna, Bulgaria
	"Dirk Brömmel - Fotografien", Stadtgalerie Neu-Isenburg, Germany
	„Unterwegs“, Davis-Klemm Gallery, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2010	SWR Kultur im Foyer, Mainzer Museumsnacht 2010, SWR Funkhaus, Mainz, Germany
	Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg, Germany
	Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Germany
	Galerie Mariette Haas, Ingolstadt, Germany
2009	Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden, Germany
	Galerie „McBride Fine Art“ Antwerp, Belgium
2008	Earlybird Venture Capital, Munich, Germany
	Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg, Germany
	Galerie Mariette Haas, Ingolstadt, Germany
	Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg, Germany
2007	Galerie „McBride Fine Art“ Antwerp, Belgium
	„Ego – Positionen zum Ich“, Wiesbadener Fototage, Galerie Erhard Witzel, Germany
2006	Galerie „McBride Fine Art“ Antwerp, Belgium
	Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg, Germany
	Galerie Mariette Haas, Ingolstadt, Germany
	Galerie Kleines Haus, Mainzer Staatstheater, Germany
	"Villa Tugendhat“, Artothek Wiesbaden, Germany
2005	Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden, Germany
2002	Ausstellung im Goethe Institut Helsinki, Finland
	"Galerie Kleines Haus" des Mainzer Staatstheaters, Germany
1995	Haus der Springmaus, Bonn, Germany

Group Exhibitions

2013	»One Man Show«, Messe art Karlsruhe, germany
	»Frisch eingetroffen«, Davis Klemm Gallery, Wiesbaden, Germany
2012	ART.FAIR 22, Messe für aktuelle Kunst, Cologne, Germany
	»architekturbild. Europäischer Architekturfotografie-Preis 2011« Deutschen Wochen im Goethe-Institut in St. Petersburg, Russia
	art paris, Grand Palais, Galerie Albert Baumgarten, France
	art Karlsruhe, Messe Karlsruhe, Germany
2011	»architekturbild. Europäischer Architekturfotografie-Preis 2011« BildungsTURM | Kulturzentrum am Münster, Konstanz, Germany
	cutlog, Contemporary Art Fair, Paris, France
	„IN BETWEEN. Architekturbild - Europäischer Architekturfotografie-Preis 2011“, vhs-photogalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
	Spurensuche - Ivaylo Stoyanov und Dirk Brömmel, Goethe-Institut Bulgaria
	art paris, Grand Palais, France
	art Karlsruhe, Messe Karlsruhe, Carlsbad, Germany
2010	24. Mainzer Kunstpreis Eisenturm im MVB-Forum, Germany
	PREVIEW BERLIN ¬– The Emerging Art Fair, Flughafen Berlin Tempelhof, Germany
	Kunstmesse „art bodensee“, Dornbirn, Austria
	Galerie im Turm, EVO-Kunstgalerie, Offenbach am Main, Germany
	art paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
	cutlog, Contemporary Art Fair, Paris, France
2009	„Visions“, Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg, Germany
	cutlog, Contemporary Art Fair, Paris, France
	Berliner Liste, Palais am Tiergarten, Germany
	KIAF, Korea International Art Fair, South Korea
	art paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
	art Karlsruhe, Messe Karlsruhe, Carlsbad, Germany
	„Work Places“, Kunstgalerie Ruse, Rousse, Bulgaria
2008	Kunstverein Freiburg „DASSOLLKUNSTSEIN vol. 6“ mit der Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Germany
	„Arbeitsplätze / work places“, Goethe-Institut Singapore, Republic of Singapore
	„Work Places“, photokina Köln, Cologne, Germany
	Galerie im Theater, „Kunsträume Bayern“, Ingolstadt, Germany
2007	„Marianne-Brandt-Wettbewerb“, Sächsisches Industriemuseum Chemnitz, Germany
	„4. Berliner Kunstsalon“, Netzwerk Brömmel, Kostolov, Stoyanov, Berlin, Germany
	„Ningbo in the Eyes of Germany Photographers“, Ningbo Museum of Art, China
	„Große Kunstausstellung München 2007“, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
	„VOYAGE“, unterwegs zwischen hier und dort. Kunstverein Kreis Soest e. V. im Museum Wilhelm-Morgner-Haus in Soest, Germany
2006	„Architektur im Liegen“, 5. Rheinischer Wettbewerb der Architekturfotografie, A L’Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg, France
	„Arbeitsplätze / work places“ Europäischer Architekturfotografie-Preis 2005 im Museum der Arbeit, Hamburg, Germany
	„Ausgezeichnete Fotografie“ im Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, Germany
2005	„Kunstpreis der Stadt Bonn“, Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany
	„Arbeitsplätze / work places“, Kasseler Architekturzentrum im Kulturbahnhof, KAZ im Kuba, Kassel, Germany
	„BFF-Förderpreisträger“ Internationales Fotofestival Pingyao, Shanxi Provinz, China
	„New German Photography“ der Editionsgalerie Lumas beim Fotofestival Rencontres d’Arles, France
	„Die Nacht der Bilder“ in der Galerie 21 bei Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg, Germany
	„Klasse Spacek“ im Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany
	Kunsthaus „Prinz-Carl“ Worms, Germany
	Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden, Germany
	DG-Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany
	"Klasse Spacek" im Haus der Kunst der Stadt Brünn, Germany
2004	Gruppe Tape10 im U.F.O., Frankfurt, Germany
2003	Gruppe kunstlicht bei der kurzen Nacht der Museen und Galerien, atelier dreimann, Wiesbaden, Germany
	"Junge Rheinland-Pfälzische Künstlerinnen und Künstler", Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
	Tape 10 "ElectroVillage" im Museum für angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany
2001	Ausstellung der Aktionsgruppe "Vene Hammerschlag", Wiesbadener Hauptbahnhof , Wiesbaden, Germany
1998	Permanent exhibition in the offices of Lufthansa AERO, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
1996	Permanent exhibition in Galerie Kupferberg, Mainz, Germany
1995	"Haus der Springmaus", Bonn, Germany