14 july 2021, Flor Linckens
New space in Rotterdam for Kahmann Gallery
Just over sixteen years after opening the original Kahmann Gallery space in Amsterdam, Roy Kahmann recently opened a second space in Rotterdam, in the Keilepand in the dynamic Merwe-Vierhaven area. The space is part of a harbour building, which is used by a multitude of creative entrepreneurs and was recently nominated for the Rotterdam Architecture Prize. Opening the new space is a decisive step that is part of a long-term strategy. Yet the expansion also feels like a logical next step: since 2016, the gallery owner has been organising the Haute Photographie photography fair in the city, next to the Nederlands Fotomuseum. The next edition will take place in February, during Rotterdam Art Week 2022. At the same location, Roy Kahmann and his wife Lindy also shared part of their special private collection with the public last year.
The new gallery space on the Keilestraat, which was officially opened by the famous photojournalist Vincent Mentzel, offers 150 m² of exhibition space. During the inaugural exhibition, those square meters will be dominated by the work of two photographers: Barry Kornbluh and Rutger ten Broeke. Where the Amsterdam space is currently centered on the female gaze - the female body seen through the eyes of nine female photographers, on show until 31 August - the Rotterdam space will show how Kornbluh and Ten Broeke captured the female body. You can also immerse yourself in their views of nature and even a rare skyline. Both photographers have been associated with the gallery since its inception.
Barry Kornbluh, Shadows II, 1993, Kahmann Gallery.
American photographer Barry Kornbluh's signature style was born in the 1970s in New York. The twenty-five-year-old photographer moved to the city immediately after studying art history and continued his studies at the New York School for Social Research. He was taught by the famous Lisette Model, who also taught artists like Diane Arbus and whose own work is represented in the collections of the MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the SFMoMA, the Metropolitan Museum and Centre Pompidou, among others. During his studies, Kornbluh also worked in the iconic Magnum Photos archives. He would regularly run into iconic artists and musicians during that time, including but not limited to Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe and Jean-Michel-Basquiat. During this period, he managed to develop a unique and intimate style: poetic, mysterious, dreamy, atmospheric and dark, characterised by a certain graininess. In the 1990s, Kornbluh moved to Amsterdam, where he still lives. During this period in time, his work became even more personal. Kornbluh: “During the past 10 or 15 years, I cannot overestimate how important the darkroom has been. And I don't mean making beautiful prints. It's more about rediscovering both new and old images, radically cropping them, turning them upside down and more, giving them new meaning that might not have been there during the shooting experience although it could have been somewhere in the unconscious.”
Rutger ten Broeke, Torso Blanca, Camargue, 1983, Kahmann Gallery.
Rutger ten Broeke is known internationally for his classic black and white nudes, which he mainly captured in nature. He started his career as a fashion photographer - after leaving the Rietveld Academy - and for many years, he worked as a (photo) journalist for, among others, Foto Magazine and US Camera. In the eighties, he also founded Galerie F.32, one of the first Dutch galleries that was focused on photography. Additionally, Ten Broeke was a significant factor in the realisation of a photography department at the AKI (ArtEZ) art academy and in 1984, he organised the first Dutch photography festival: the Foto Biennial Enschede. His work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Musée de L'Art Moderne in Paris and the Chicago Art Institute. Ten Broeke's analogue photos are characterised by a certain tension between the protagonists and the place in which they are captured. Yet the results are often harmonious, with strong compositions in which beauty and technical refinement play an important role. His work has been included in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, among others.
The new Kahmann Gallery space in Rotterdam is open by appointment.
