Exhibition from October 16, 2023 – February 11, 2024 (ground level) 
Vernissage on October 15, 2023 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Renate Herter shows the female body. A body that is ageing, that is old.

Photographed beyond all romanticism, dissected into fragments, assembled into montages that refuse the superficial glance. The fascinating depictions go beyond the boundaries of classical nude photography and demand a close look from the viewer.

Renate Herter's analytical gaze shows what is, unretouched and without artificial filters. Almost macroscopically, the smallest details are visible. Although the depictions appear extremely realistic, they refuse any anatomical classification in their complexity.

One guesses at much, sees little exactly. Skin has been pushed, stretched, pressed. Wrinkles become small waves, strange little peaks, melt into mysterious patterns and shapes, join the familiar to the unfamiliar, to a new whole.

The impressively precise arrangement of the original motifs and their symmetrical mirroring creates new, almost sculptural, mystical bodies despite the compositional rigour.

Even though awareness of the many aspects of ageing and also the beauty of ageing has increased in recent years, the public image of old people is still little perceived or is determined by stereotypical representations. Body positivity seems to give a wide berth to the concept of ageing.

Our society is still dominated by youthfulness and beauty ideals that largely hide ageing or portray it as unattractive. Older people, especially women, are less present in the media and often only visible in clichéd portrayals.

Renate Herter's series of works "Stubborn Bodies - Secret Territories" confronts this with great self-confidence. With her montages, she goes far beyond the mere depiction of the obvious and creates highly aesthetic works that can be seen as concentrated life. With a cryptic humour, these works celebrate the feminine, life and open up a completely new perspective on the beauty of the human body.