Heute konnte ich einen exklusiven ersten Einblick in die bewegende Ausstellung des Günter Grass-Hauses in der Glockengießerstraße 21 nehmen, das sich regelmäßig Künstler:innen widmet, die sich als Multitalente einen Namen gemacht haben. Bryan Adams‘ Motive sind in diesen beunruhigenden Zeiten aktueller denn je. Die Ausstellung ist DAS kulturelle Highlight des Herbstes in Lübeck.
To be honest: my brain works perfectly well, but unfortunately, it's very mainstream! You say "Bryan Adams," and I say "Summer of '69," and the song immediately pops into my head. As of today, it's been streamed 1,042,262,120 times on Spotify alone. I also pictured some of the iconic portraits of Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse, Mick Jagger, Ben Kingsley, and Queen Elizabeth II when I heard about the new photography exhibition at the Grass House and knew that he had worked as a fashion photographer for publications including Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, and British Vogue, and had won numerous awards.
That this exceptional artist, with his connections in the world of music and fashion, has portrayed famous people doesn't really surprise me. However, the preview of the Lübeck exhibition allowed me to familiarize myself with the much broader spectrum of the Canadian rock musician's work and the depth of his art.
Bryan Adams at the Günter Grass House
We are all human beings, we are all interesting.
Since the late 1990s, Adams has worked as a professional photographer. His passion for photography began in childhood, when he used his parents' cameras. Most of the early photos taken by the musician, born in 1959, were in black and white. For his first tour, he bought a Canon camera to document the events on and around the stage. Later, he designed his own album covers. Increasingly, people became the focus of his attention, and he began using his fame to advocate for political and social issues. To this day, Bryan Adams, who is considered a reserved and shy person, supports social projects through his work.
Die Ausstellung in Lübeck, die speziell für das begrenzte Platzangebot im 1. Stock des Günter Grass-Hauses konzipiert wurde, gliedert sich in drei Werkgruppen mit den Überschriften Homeless, Exposed und Wounded – The Legacy of War. Die gezeigten Werke stammen aus Fotobänden, die im Steidl Verlag erschienen sind.
The contrast between public figures and celebrities on the one hand and unknown individuals on the other is deliberately emphasized. What all the works have in common is that they depict people. "Who can really say why someone ends up on the stage and someone else on the street?" Bryan Adams said in an interview this year.
Who can say why someone ends up on the stage and someone else on the street?
Bryan Adams
Homeless – Look
Die Anregung, eine Porträtstory über obdachlose Straßenverkäufer für die Zeitschrift The Big Issue zu fotografieren, kam von Trudy Styler, der Ehefrau des australischen Musikers Sting. The Big Issue ist eine Wochenzeitschrift, die von professionellen Journalist:innen und Fotograf:innen erstellt und auf der Straße verkauft wird, um Obdachlosen ein legales Einkommen zu verschaffen und ihre Wiedereingliederung in die Gesellschaft zu erleichtern.
Inspired by this, Bryan Adams dedicated his photographic vision to the people who lived on the streets of London and sold the magazine. These are the people whom almost all passersby barely glance at. People whom few ever look into. Nothing distracts from the images of these individuals against a white background. The homeless people depicted are revealed as individuals with their inherent human dignity.
Exposed – tell your own story
Als Weltstar zeigt Bryan Adams in der Serie Exposed andere kreative Persönlichkeiten, deren Portraits häufig ikonographisch aufgeladen sind. Gemeinsam mit den Künstler:innen entwickelt er diese Szenen und bietet diesen so die Chance, das Narrativ über die eigene Person selbst zu definieren.
Bryan Adams seems to delve into the deeper layers of a person's psyche. His works appear both intimate and detached. In the exhibition, I am particularly moved by a color portrait of Amy Winehouse, which portrays the singer, who died so young, as a thoughtful individual.
Wounded – The Legacy of War
When Bryan Adams was approached by ITN journalist Caroline Froggatt about doing something for veterans returning from the war in Iraq, he developed the idea of photographing soldiers wounded during deployment or training. The photos of these individuals, who suffered life-changing injuries, are both direct and compassionate.
They all radiate great dignity. It's inspiring to see, and to read in the accompanying texts, that a terrible event isn't just gruesome. It's possible to draw new strength from a traumatic experience. The "Unscarred" design, for example, depicts a young soldier who, at the age of 18, was hit by a petrol bomb during his first deployment to Iraq and, after 16 operations, decided on his first tattoo: "Unscarred"—without scars. My body may bear scars, but my psyche is unwounded.
This sixth photo exhibition at the Günter Grass House repeatedly draws a connection to Günter Grass, who was wounded in April 1945 and experienced homelessness himself in Düsseldorf after the Second World War, when he lived in a Caritas home and drew the residents there.
The audio texts for the exhibition are spoken by the well-known actor Devid Striesow, who can currently be seen as General Friedrichs in the new film adaptation of the Remarque classic "All Quiet on the Western Front".
Die Ausstellung geht unter die Haut. Sie regt zum Nachdenken an. Darüber wie wir miteinander umgehen und was wir einander zumuten. Krieg und Obdachlosigkeit sind Themen, denen wir uns nicht gern stellen, die uns jedoch täglich begegnen. Dem verantwortlichen Museumsteam um Museumsdirektor Dr. Jörg-Philipp Thomsa ist es gemeinsam mit der Hamburger Agentur „Crossover“ gelungen, dem Gast der Ausstellung den Eindruck zu vermitteln, dass Mensch zu sein bedeutet, gleichermaßen verletzlich und stark zu sein. Ein motivierender Gedanke, mit dem ich heute das Günter Grass-Haus verlasse. Die Ausstellung läuft vom 15. Oktober 2023 bis 7. Januar 2024.
Übrigens: Für die aktuelle Ausgabe unseres Podcasts Lübeck ZWISCHENTÖNE waren wir ebenfalls vor kurzem vor Ort. Höre hier in das Interview rein.
