Dieter Appelt "Photographien"

As part of the EMOP (European Month of Photography) and on the occasion of Dieter Appelt's 90th birthday, Lempertz in Berlin is showing a selection of his black and white photographs from the last 50 years, including multi-part works from the work groups ‘Erinnerungsspur’, ‘Tableau Oppedette’ and ‘Salzufersequenz’.

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In his ‘Aktionen’, Dieter Appelt focuses on his own body in its existential conditionality and transience, exposes it to borderline experiences and literally puts it to the test. Pain, decay and death, evidence of materialised temporality, are thematic complexes of his photographic ‘investigations’, in which he processes his traumatic experiences in post-war Germany. The results are powerfully dark photographic works in black and white. Appelt alternates between extreme close-ups, whereby rough, earth-encrusted skin surfaces become almost sensually perceptible, and distanced observation positions. His works often consist of several parts and are organised into a narrative structure, but there are also individual works detached from these same sequences as well as experimental photographic works in which the artist works with double exposure and negative manipulation.

Appelt's affinity for action art and performance stems from his artistic background. His formal training began at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Academy in Leipzig and later at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where Appelt studied music and singing. At the same time, he enrolled at the neighbouring Hochschule für Bildende Kunst in Berlin and studied photography under Heinz Hajek-Halke, among others. In 1961, he was employed as a singer at the Deutsche Oper, but continued his art studies. In 1970, during a guest performance in Japan, he came into contact with Zen Buddhism, which had a lasting artistic influence on him. This was followed by longer study trips to Italy, where he created his early, important sequences ‘Monte Isola’ (1976) and ‘Erinnerungsspur’ (1977-79), among others. In 1979, he resigned from his position at the Deutsche Oper in order to devote himself entirely to art.

From 1982 to 2000, Appelt was Professor of Photography, Film and Video at the Hochschule der Künste, and in 1996 he was appointed Dean of the Hochschule. Dieter Appelt lives and works in Berlin.

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