Elger Esser Oskar Schlemmer State Prize
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Germany
In 2016, the state of Baden-Württemberg’s major prize for the visual arts, the Oskar Schlemmer State Prize will be awarded to the Stuttgart-born artist Elger Esser. To mark the occasion, the Kunsthalle is showing an exhibition with various series of his large-format photographic works. Over the last twenty years, Esser has amassed an extensive oeuvre, in which he defies the logic of the development of the medium: the artist still places his trust in predigital photographic techniques and references the historical techniques of the Pictorialists and traditional visual tropes from European landscape painting. Esser completed a Master’s under Prof. Bernd Becher at the Düsseldorf Academy of the Arts,and from 2006–2009 was Professor of Photography at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. The Düsseldorf-based artist regularly exhibits internationally, and his works are represented in numerous important museums.
