Paul Kirps

Following Time 0 and Instant Choices, this is already the artist’s third exhibition in Luxembourg dedicated to the Polaroid format. Having previously been held at Neumünster Abbey and the Theatergalerie in Esch, it now takes place at a venue that holds special significance for Paul Kirps. As if on a journey, the small-format artworks seem to have finally arrived at the Cité de l’Image, the stronghold of photography.

For years, the artist has been challenging the cliché of the banal souvenir photograph that has become ingrained in some people’s minds when it comes to the Polaroid format. He values the immediacy and honesty of this analogue medium, which allows for neither filters nor subsequent editing in Photoshop. With their iconic white frames, the small square images resemble windows or portals through which time, memory and perception take on new meanings.

It is precisely these qualities that have made the Polaroid appealing to major artists such as Andy Warhol, Lee Friedlander and Wim Wenders. David Hockney, in particular, is regarded as a key inspiration for Paul Kirps – as is, apparently, Edward Steichen, who, however, only discovered this medium for himself towards the end of his life. The latter seems to bring full circle a journey that is of particular significance to Paul Kirps. For Clervaux holds a special place in his life.

This place has a magnetic pull. It is a dazzling mix of medieval mysteries, a castle, a monastery, enigmatic nature, ‘The Family of Man’ and high-end tourism. For Paul Kirps, however, the place is not merely an exotic discovery. He spent part of his youth here. Two years ago, he returned there for the duration of a summer to create a monumental fresco at the Lycée Edward Steichen. It seems as though Clervaux possesses the strange ability to draw people back time and again. Welcome to Twin Peaks.

In An Instant Journey, the artist does not present travel souvenirs, but rather observations that he has artistically reimagined through the lens of his SX-70. The focus is on deserted subjects, structures and architectural elements such as quays, terminals, dams, formwork, service shafts or temporary structures. They appear, disappear and reappear elsewhere, like markers on a secret map whose lines stretch across continents and landscapes.

In this way, the Polaroids become snapshots of a world in constant flux. An Instant Journey is thus less a journey through places than an exploration of the forms and structures of our built environment.

Paul Kirps is a independent artist who works on commissions and personal projects in the field of art, illustration and visual communication. Often his projects are preceded by intense documentation whereby he photographs, salvages, compiles and collects images, signs and objects as a basis for the creation of formal data banks. Through his research he reappropriates popular imagery and elements from daily life in order to reinvent an iconographic poetic with new uses.

In 1996, he graduated in Visual Communication from ECAL in Lausanne (CH). Following his studies, various assignments led him to work on artistic projects in Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. During that time, he worked with designers such as Ruedi Baur, Bernard Baissait, Jacques Koeweiden, and Paul Postma. In 2004 he founded the Atelier Paul Kirps in Luxembourg. Recent projects have focused on commissions related to the "Art in State Buildings" Program (Kunst am Bau). He collaborated with architectural studios to develop concepts for artistic installations in public buildings, providing relevant solutions to the needs of future residents and users.

Paul Kirps' work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg, the Museum für Gestaltung in Zürich, la Ville de Luxembourg, the Bibliothèque Nationale Luxembourg, the Centre National de l'audiovisuel Luxembourg and the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg.

www.paulkirps.com

Address:
Centre d'Art - Cité de l'image
11, Grand-Rue
L-9711 Clervaux

Opening hours:
Mon - Sun: 10 am - 5 pm
Free admission