Elger Esser: ‚Poveglia II, Venice‘, 2002, C-Print, Diasec Face, size: 141 x 181 x 5 cm / 55.5 x 71.3 x 2 in. Copyright © Elger Esser. ON HOLD.
About Elger Esser
Elger Esser was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1967 and was raised in Rome. In 1986, he moved to Düsseldorf, where he worked as a commercial photographer until 1991. He then attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, studying with Bernd and Hilla Becher, until 1997. A trip to Lyon in 1996 marked a turning point in his practice, yielding an aesthetic based on the experience of travel in what Esser calls “archaic locales in the middle of nowhere” and postcards, which had fascinated the artist since childhood. Later he was also creating digitally processed, colored seaside postcards from the 1900s showing bathers and boats, rocks and froth. Selected from the artist’s enormous postcard collection, these highly enlarged, grainy seascapeds exude an intriguing old-masterly quality that brigns to mind past times and the memories inscribed. Fusing antique aesthetics and digital technology, Esser proves to be an avant-garde romantic of our times, a quiet apocalyptic praising life against the disappearance of the world. Esser subsequently made a series of excursions around Western Europe in search of subjects in natural and built environments, such as the tranquil river in Marne (1997) and the dense architecture of Naples in Matera I (1998). Both of these photographs are part of the artist’s Vedutas and Landscapes series, along with studies of the sea such as his Ameland images (2000). Inspired by Marcel Proust’s descriptions of Combray in A la recherché du temps perdu, Esser’s 2007 series, named after the French town, is comprised of complex superimposed Chromogenic prints and nostalgic héliogravures. Elger Esser produces photographic vedutas of land-scapes and buildings that exude the tranquility and romantic spirit of the early 19th century. His photos of the sea, marshlands, rivers, or city panoramas would seem likewise to originate in that century, if it was not for the fact that they are quite definitely taken in color, a medium in which Elger Esser feels at home. The pale, almost faded hues that Esser aspires to create attract us as if they were some vague memory, acting like a nostalgic magnet pulling us back into a past that always remains remote. Yet Esser’s pictures are the product of the last few years, they are without doubt highly contemporary. It is hard to say which era it is that they depict. In 2007–08, Esser turned his attention to the wharfs and sea cliffs of the United States. Later he went to Egypt and Australia.
More Artwork by Elger Esser
Elger Esser: “La Manneparte, France”, 2003, C-Print, signed, edition of 100, picture size: 18,5 x 26 cm, total size: 24 x 30,5 cm. SOLD.
Elger Esser: “Loriet”, 2001, C-Print/DiaSEC, Cibachrometechnic, signed, mumbered, editon of 7, size: 92 x 118 cm. SOLD.
Elger Esser: “Cap-Antifer-Etretat, la Roche d’Aval, France”, 2000, C- Print, signed, numbered, size: 105.1 x 149.9 cm. SOLD.
Elger Esser: ‘Montrond-les-Bains’, 2012, C-print, Diasec Face, signed, numbered, edition of 7, size: 140 x 180 cm.O N HOLD.
Elger Esser: ‘Phare des Poulains’, 2012, C-print on Diasec face, signed, numbered, edition of 7, size: 98.7 x 124 cm. SOLD.
Elger Esser: ‘Chateau du Taureau’, 2008, C-print on Diasec Face, 184 x 242 cm, edition. of 7 – © Elger Esser. SOLD.
Elger Esser: “Arromanches-les Bains II, France”, 2009, C-Print & DiaSec Face, signed, numbered, edition of 7. ON HOLD.
Elger Esser: “Verdun sur le Doubs II”, France, 2009, C- Print, signed, numbered, edition of 7, size: 98 x 124 cm. SOLD.
Elger Esser: ‘Drôme’, France, 1999, Chromogenic print, Diasec mounted, signed, numbered, edition of 5, size: 49 × 63 1/2 in – 124.5 × 161.3 cm. ON HOLD.
Elger Esser:” Nil II”, 2011, C – print, signed, numbered, edition of 30, size: 42 x 59,5 cm. SOLD.
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Elger Esser: ‘241-Dieppe’, 2006, C- Print on Diasec with ‘shadow gap frame’, signed, numbered en verso, edition of 5, size: 75 x 55 x 4cm. Price € 6.000,- Order here!
Elger Esser: ‘8-Saint Lunaire’, 2006, C- Print on Diasec with ‘shadow gap frame’, signed, numbered en verso, edition of 5, size: 77 x 62 x 4 cm. Price € 6.000,- Order here!
Elger Esser: ‘’47-Dieppe’, 2006, C- Print on Diasec with ‘shadow gap frame’, signed, numbered en verso, edition of 5, size: 65 x 90 x 4 cm. Price € 8.500,- Order here!
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