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In Jeff Wall’s photographs nothing is left to chance. The constructions defined as cinematographic are the result of an elaborate preparatory phase aimed at representing the staging. A “hyper-irrealism” that unfolds from the conceptual art that Wall dealt with in the 1960s.
The Beyeler Foundation inaugurates the new exhibition program by hosting an impressive retrospective of the Canadian artist with over 50 large-format works, some of which are exhibited for the first time and mostly focused on the body of production of the last twenty years.
Sam Keller, Director of the Beyeler Foundation
Sam Keller, Director of the Beyeler Foundation, describes him as: “A relentless observer of people’s lifestyles and social interactions in the urban context of economic and cultural contrast. His interest is equally focused on the condition of the disadvantaged and marginalized and on the life of the lower and upper middle classes.
Like Manet, whom he greatly admires, Wall’s work appears closely connected to his hometown. His work captures stimuli from a multitude of stimuli and motifs, from still life, from historical images to landscapes and are intersected with memories, scenes and personal elements often combined, which nevertheless manifest in the same way an objectively impassive spirit.
Genesis of the works
During the meeting with the press, Wall himself describes the perspective in which he moves, referring to his images mainly as tableaux. Going beyond the cornerstones of social or documentary photography, he turns to take on the connotations of an experiment with absolutely unprecedented results.