Untitled Urbanscape 13

Introduction

The buildings and parking lots in Mauren Brodbeck’s photographs occupy no space in the perceptions of passersby, they are so unimposing that their existence seems almost doubtful. Materially existent, they are so far removed from memory that they, through their reconstruction of a series of perceptions, leave behind a blank canvas, a classical mental blank. Where was I all day today on my way from A to B. Asking these kinds of questions and completely reconstructing the sequence of a day in retrospect went out of style a long time ago. We got used to our perceptions being perforated, fragmented and splintered in view of the daily impressions of the masses. We’ve come to terms with our mental blanks.

Mauren Brodbeck’s concern is tracing the individual and personal history in the seemingly banal, and wresting anonymous places from their recording and surveillance grids. From the seemingly unspecified nothingness arise (partially found, and partially inserted afterwards) massive bodies, or actually monochrome surfaces which optically metamorphose through the photographically detailed periphery into monumental sculptures. Behind the urban abyss, an unexpected vitality can unfold through more careful contemplation, a Genius loci always standing, a sensual secret. Mauren Brodbeck registers this secret to memory and metamorphoses it into a visual history about the invention of space and time.

Bio

1974	Born in Geneva
1993	Maturités in Visual Arts & Modern Languages
	College de Saussure, Geneva, Switzerland
1995	Foundation Film Program Certificate, 1995
1996	Independent Financing, production & Distribution
	Vancouver Film School, Vancouver, British Columbia
2004	Bachelor of fine Arts with Distiction, Photography
	Art Center of Design, Pasadena, California
2005	"imédiat", postgrade program at the Ecole supérieure des beaux-arts ( ESBA ) et la Haute école d’arts et de design ( HEAD ) de Genève
	Lives and works in Geneva

Awards

Best Film Award, 1998 Spiez Film Festival, for short film “Plastik“
Bronze Award, 1998 Ind.Experimental Film and Video Awards, Flagstaff IFF for short film “Plastik
”Silver Award, Educational TV & Film Commercial category, 1999 Houston IFF for Advertising Film “Tekna”
Honorable mention, 2002 Adobe Achievement Awards, Photography Section

Exhibitions

2007	Future View, Galerie Art & Vision, Geneva
	Mauren Brodbeck "Urbanscape, Cityscape and Chocolate", Galerie Heckenhauer, Berlin
2006	_reGeneration, 50 photographers of tomorrow, Aperture Gallery New York
2004	„Dialogue 2“, Compact/Space Los Angeles, California
	„Dialogue 1“, Compact/Space Los Angeles, California
2003	„Radio Berlin“, public installation, Alexander Platz, Berlin
	Compact/Space Berlin
	„The Show“, Art Center Colleg of Design, Fine Art Gallery
1998	Amnesty International, Charity Based Exhibition, Sonar, Vancouver
	Maison des Arts du Grutli, Geneva