“A single decision is enough to fundamentally, genuinely fundamentally, rethink and change everything.” Gabriele Rothemann’s photographs do not simply depict an object or a situation, but rather carve out the unseen: a relationship to things long gone, a connection to times past and spaces lost. In each image resonates the reverberation of other images, in each, a wealth of possibilities of how the world can be perceived and represented is condensed. Since 1984, the Vienna-based artist has used the medium of photography in a way that does not freeze the object, but fills it with imaginary life. Rothmann’s work revolves around existential questions—especially the most fundamental of them all: the finitude of life. Often abstract and precise, yet at the same time full of rich detail, her motifs from her series Dead Animals to her Miniatures about Disappearance take on a haunting presence. Thus she appeals to the empathy of her viewers and touches them not least through the sensual quality of her images, their clear-cut visual language and expressive beauty.
