»Chris Durham. Grenzen«. Invitation, TZR Galerie für bildende Kunst, 20-06-2008 - 30-08-2008

On June 20th 2008 the Exhibition „Grenzen" (Borders) by the British photographer Chris Durham will open at TZR Galerie Kai Brückner, Düsseldorf. Until August 30th the Group "Die Narbe Deutschland" /The German Scar) and the single image "Nicosia" will be shown in the gallery.

Chris Durham is interested in places of historical importance. In the current exhibition at the TZR Gallery he is focussing on borders.

The piece of work "Die Narbe Deutschlands" is a series of photographs that focus on the former border between East and West Germany, whilst the single image of "Nicosia" represents the UN Buffer-Zone between the Greek and Turkish parts of Cyprus.

The title "Die Narbe Deutschlands" ("The German Scar") describes an injury that is now in the progress of heeling. The former borderline is no longer of any great importance but it was this 1300 km long division of East and West Germany that up until 1990 divided not only the German people but also two political systems. The border can nowadays hardly be seen, but it is these few relics of the past that Chris Durham concentrates on. The series consists of eight photographs and 4 text images. The text images are quotation extracts from interviews that the artist carried out with local people, who had a personal relationship to the region, both pre- and post German reunification.

"Nicosia" was produced on the Mediterranean island Cyprus. Since 1974 the northern and southern part of the island have been divided by a roughly 200 km long UN Buffer Zone. Chris Durham decided to portrait the drama of the divided island in a single large-scale image. The purpose built passenger terminal at Nicosia International Airport has remained unused since the Turkish invasion of 1974. This building has become the monolithic image that represents the conflict between the two neighbouring nations.

In the picture the slowly decaying building has been isolated from it’s surroundings, making it neutral and impartial. The airport, which is normally a symbol of mobility and of connecting nations has in Durham’s work "Nicosia" become a symbol of division.

In the exhibition "Grenzen" both a series of images and also the single image are on display. Both capabilities of a border, the dividing but also the growing together can be experienced .

Chris Durham, born 1964 in London, lives and works in Düsseldorf. He studied at the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf by Prof. Bernd Becher and Prof. Thomas Ruff. He completed his studies in 2002 as a Master Student of Thomas Ruff. Parallel Chris Durham has worked as an assistant of Bernd and Hilla Becher. The style of Durham’s work is documentary but the special closeness to the subject matter which is present is visible in his individual viewpoint and image choice.