Cult Object, Design Miracle, Status Symbol

The group exhibition ‘DRIVE DROVE DRIVEN – Cars in Contemporary Photography’ opens at the Communal Gallery in Berlin on 28 January 2018.

For over a century, cars have been playing a defining role in many people’s everyday lives. At the same time, few objects have had the same polarising effect as the automobile: it is regarded as a blessing and a curse, a feat of engineering and a threat to the environment; a symbol of freedom, an object of desire, and an almost erotic status symbol.

Curated by Matthias Harder, the exhibition encompasses the work of 23 contemporary photographers in the form of both single pictures and photographic series. As a result, the viewer is confronted with a great diversity of images – from traffic accidents and empty roads to parked vehicles, abandoned cars, vintage motor rallies and multiple interpretations of ‘being on the road’.

Comprising more than 60 photographs, the show presents a wide spectrum of cars, as well as different artistic approaches. It also conveys the coexistence of the automobile’s gradual demise within our society with our continuing fascination for something that is both a utility item and an object d’art. Conceptual interpretations are juxtaposed with sociological investigations; cars are visually stylised, metaphorically marginalised, or meticulously explored through close-ups of specific details.

Further information at Kommunale Galerie Berlin