Jürgen B. Tesch – författare

The photographic compositions of Isabella Berr are reminiscent of dream sequences frozen in time. Created in public spaces, almost as though in passing, her photographic sets are nevertheless carefully selected and the onlookers who happen to be present unwittingly become actors on her stage.

Born in Perpignan in southern France in 1964, the photographer and photojournalist Maurice Weiss now lives in Berlin. His work is published regularly in important journals and magazines across Europe. From still portraits to significant and often iconic moments in world history, this publication draws together some of Weiss's most striking images.

The drawings of Israeli artist Eran Shakine may look carefree and casual, but their message is serious: Muslims, Christians, and Jews share a history. They are linked through Abraham's sons Ishmael, an ancestor of the Muslims, and Isaac, an ancestor of the Jews, as well as through Jesus, born a Jew. As Shakine demonstrates in this new collection of his work, Muslims, Christians, and Jews have a great deal in common.Eran Shakine: Knocking on Heaven's Door presents new large-format oilstick drawings depicting Muslims, Christians, and Jews as an indistinguishable trio involved in actions that are both profound and humorous. In doing so, he reveals both the diversity and the similarity of the three and offers his own highly individual view of these world religions. Shakine's work argues that though they may have many differences, they share one thought: when they knock at heaven's door, they all hope to find the love of God. The result is a moving, sometimes witty, and always powerful collection of drawings that speak to many conflicts in the world today.

In decades of artistic production Gerhard Berger (born in 1933) has arrived at a unique, characteristic visual language. His representation of humans, oscillatin g between figurative and abstract painting, is rooted in the great myths of humankind and in the religious visual conceptions of the world’s cultures.Gerhard Berger approaches his works deliberately: each picture is preceded by a long w ork process of sketching and testing the projected figurative forms in a previously established grid of the visual space. The graphic techniques learned in his youth, in particular typography, remain recognisable in this working process. Berger also impart ed his precise method of working during his tenure at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich. Since 1999 he has dedicated himself entirely as a freelance painter and graphic artist to his own visual universe, one that invites the observer to read and analyse its play of forms.

The artist Heinrich Knopf (*1949) lives in Munich and at Lake Garda. Even in his youth he focused in the transformation of iron, one of the oldest materials used in art. His sculptures radiate lightness and movement and invite the viewer to a playful relationship with ever-changing angles.Heinrich Knopf gives the heaviness we initially associate with iron as a material an almost flowing dynamism. The forms of his works are abstracted and derived from the constant movement of water, which remains a source of fascination for him. Filigree and flooded with light –apparently hovering – his works evoke perspectives which perplex. In large-format illustrations and detail shots the publication provides an overview of his creative work and allows the viewer to study the works and their forms at leisure.

The American photographer Abe Frajndlich has close connections with New York. He describes the cityas his muse and repeatedly records it and its people in haunting photographs.This volume shows selected, highly personal images which are very different from the ubiquitous postcardsand poster views, which is lavishly illustrated in this book. Abe Frajndlich (*1946, Frankfurt am Main) is known internationally for his portraits of famous people such as Jack Lemmon and Stephen Hawking.Since moving to New York in 1984 the city itself has been one of his principal subjects. He is fascinated by its radiance and watches spellbound how it changes and reinvents itself on a daily basis. The result is a multi-faceted picture: the black-and-white photographs aresometimes perceptive, sometimes thoughtful, and sometimes witty or quirky –but they are always a declaration of love to New York.