Sebastian Lux

Short Bio

Sebastian Lux is the director of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation in Hamburg, exhibition organiser and author. Based on the foundation's extensive photographic collections, he curates thematic and solo photographic exhibitions. For example, he was responsible for the international tour of the exhibition "Martin Munkacsi - Think while you shoot!" (2005 - 2012) as well as for the retrospectives "F.C. Gundlach. The Photographic Work" (2008 - 2013), "Peter Keetman. Gestaltete Welt" (2016-2017) and "Schaut her! Toni Schneiders" (2020-2022) are responsible. In the context of preserving and activating photographic archives, the most recent exhibitions were "Return - Photography in the Weimar Republic" (2018) and "Germany around 1980. Photographs from an Unknown Country" (2022).

(Portrait by Marie Hölscher)

Curatorial Statement

'The artistic examination of the fundamental elements of photography - light, substrate, pigment, chemistry - is always tempting for photographers and curators alike, as it allows them to explore the aesthetic and formal possibilities and limits of the medium. On the other hand, art with photography can take a socially critical stance and make very concrete reference to issues of the present and future - in this case ecology, migration, gender identity and energy.

These two attitudes are reflected in my selection of images, which in a few motifs create a tension between the media-referential aspects of the works by Dörte Eißfeldt, Klaus Elle, Ralf Cohen and Eva Schmeckenbecher on the one hand and the critical aspects of the works by Johanna Jackie Baier, Olaf Otto Becker, Joachim Hildebrand, Ulrich Mertens, Loredana Nemes and the artist duo "die arge lola" on the other.'

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curator's choice

© Dörte Eißfeldt | Silversurfer (2012)

© Klaus Elle | Erleuchtungen (1986 - 1999)

© Ralf Cohen | Neuland (2011 - 2018)

© Eva Schmeckenbecher | The Wall (2017)

© die arge lola (Kai Loges + Andreas Langen) | Hommage an J.W.Schirmer (2008)

© Olaf Otto Becker | Above Zero (2007 - 2008)

© Joachim Hildebrand | Neue Heimat (2011 - 2012)

© Loredana Nemes | beyond (2008 - 2010)

© Johanna Jackie Baier | House of Shame (1999 - 2019)

© Ulrich Mertens | WIND IN SICHT – LANDSCAPE IN TRANSITION (2008 - 2018)

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